Several threats against educational campuses came to light last week in Texas, Massachusetts and Maryland.
In Longview, Texas, Christopher Jones, 17, was arrested after he had a live chat in a gaming room. During that chat he described his plans to shoot up his school, as well as slit the throats of his classmates and “lock them up.”
Someone told police about their chats with Jones, which led to his arrest, reports CBS 19. When officers searched his residence, they found 17 guns, two swords and a pair of brass knuckles. Authorities suspect Jones might have been considering his victims based on their race.
A death threat sent to Harvard students last week also appears to be racially charged, reports the Harvard Crimson, as it was sent to several hundred Harvard affiliates, many of whom were women of Asian descent. The sender was self-identified as Huy Dinh, who said he or she lived in Germany. Previously the sender had repeatedly emailed some Harvard students as early as April requesting donations.
The emails caused concern, however, when the one last week appeared to be a threat. After the threat was sent, another email coming from the same email account issued an apology about the previous email.
At Towson University, Matthew David Cole, 18, was arrested for threatening on social media to carry out “Virginia Tech part 2” on Oct. 4, reports the Baltimore Sun.
A concerned classmate reported Cole’s comments to his resident assistant when he saw the threatening messages on Yik Yak.
Investigators used this information, along with other technology to identify Cole. The suspect said he was worried his parents would take him out of school if he had bad grades. He said he didn’t think anyone would take his comments seriously.
