Police investigate threatening messages

by CALLIE HARKINS

News Editor

On Monday, March 13, the UMW Police Department began an investigation after messages were posted on and around UMW’s pedestrian bridge indicating a possible threat in the Jepson Science Center. Though a sweep of Jepson and the area surrounding the messages was clear, some classes were canceled or moved online on March 14, and a person of interest has since been visually identified. 

The messages, posted on and around the pedestrian bridge, shared statements such as “Flee campus! Danger 3/14/23,” “25 secret murders of students + alumni” and “atomic vacuum weapon in lab showers secret rooms.”

The UMW Police Department released a security notice via email on the night of March 13, alerting students and faculty that an on-campus threat was being investigated. According to a second security alert sent on the morning of March 14, UMW Police began working with both the FBI and Virginia State Police to investigate the threat. In partnership with these agencies, a K-9 team conducted a full sweep of the area where the messages were found and the Jepson Science Center, which was mentioned in several of the threats.

Following the sweep, which yielded negative results, UMW Police deemed that there was no active threat and campus operations could continue as normal. When the results of the sweep were shared with the campus community, a person of interest had yet to be identified, leaving both students and faculty wary that the threat could grow throughout the day.

“None of my classes were canceled,” said Ainsley Lord, a freshman environmental science and conservation biology major who had classes in Jepson on March 14. “I was a little surprised they were not canceled and very surprised they were not moved to Zoom. I was stressed when I was in Jepson during the day and at night but as I got into my work I forgot about it for a little bit.”

Lord said that more precautions should have been taken in light of the threat.

“The school should have just moved all classes to Zoom for the day, or set out guidelines for what different buildings should do so that professors could not make people choose between missing class and feeling safe,” she said. “At least setting up a zoom option for all classes would have been nice for the students to make their own choice about what they felt ok with.”

Some students came to the Student Government Association with their concerns.

“Students came directly to SGA to report that they had not gone to classes and faculty used that against them, and we are going to bring that up with admin as well,” said Carlos Nunes, sophomore political science major and Student Government Association senator.

Having individual professors decide whether or not to hold class or to move class online created some confusion, Lord said.

“Honestly I think it should have been the school making the call instead of letting professors decide because it created a lot of confusion between classes and what each person’s preference was,” she said.

Later in the day, at 2:17 p.m., UMW Police Chief Michael Hall sent a third alert in which security camera footage was released of the person of interest. The individual was seen inside the Hurley Convergence Center and walking along a road near campus.

“We want to be clear, there is not an imminent threat to campus,” said Hall in the email. “That said, we are continuing our investigation into the messages. As part of our due diligence, we have vetted the available information with local law enforcement and are working with the FBI in an ongoing investigation. We have identified a person of interest, and UMW Police would like to speak to this individual.”

Harriet King, a sophomore biochemistry major, recalled students’ increased anxiety during her in-person classes in Jepson on Tuesday. 

“The students were all pretty uncomfortable, and everyone would jump whenever something banged in the hallways or the pipes,” she said. “I wasn’t really scared to be there, but it was definitely unnerving to see the building so empty and then all of us in the lab.”

Some classes were canceled or moved online, but all of King’s classes remained in person.

“I definitely didn’t think that we would have class since all my friends’ classes in Jepson were moved to zoom,” she said. “It definitely made me feel worse that we were one of the only labs that were in the building during that time, and everyone was definitely on edge.”

Freshman biomedical sciences major, Sabrina Perez, chose not to attend her classes in person.

“All of my classes were virtual,” said Perez. ”While some had an option of still attending in person, attendance was not required. I didn’t attend any of my classes in person, but I wouldn’t have felt safe attending.” 

Hall urged anyone who may have seen the suspect to contact the police immediately.

“Information sharing is vital to emergency and safety preparedness, so we can all work together in a situation,” said Hall in an email on Tuesday.