Robert S. Donovan)
MARCH 26, 9:49 a.m. — An Auburn University student named Zac Smith tweeted a picture of a message he’d found written inside a bathroom stall in the Haley Center, a 10-floor, 400,000+ sq. ft. building that house the University Bookstore, as well as facilities for the College of Liberal Arts and College of Education.
To whom it may concern
April 16th 2014 I will unleash a rampage of Biblical proportion across this tiny campus… You have been warned!!
The message went almost entirely unnoticed, with only a handful of Smith’s Twitter followers retweeting the picture at the time.
Found this on the bathroom stall in Haley center..guess I have an excuse 2 skip class April 16th #AllStudentsSkipDay? pic.twitter.com/ejhe2l5v5m
— Zac Smith (@ZacSmith2) March 26, 2014
April 15, 9:52 p.m. — Several weeks after the message was originally discovered, word started to spread online.
According to Auburn’s student newspaper, The Plainsman (which did an excellent job covering this entire event), Luke Sheehan, an Auburn graduate student called the Auburn Police Dept. and found that they had already been activated.
“Before I was able to get the words out of my mouth, the police said they were working on it.” Sheehan said.
Auburn police say this is not being taken lightly. Officers are searching campus now. If you see anything, please notify the police at once.
— The Auburn Plainsman (@TheAUPlainsman) April 16, 2014
April 15, 11:15 p.m. — Auburn University sent out an alert to students and faculty. “While no immediate threat has been substantiated, police presence has and will be increased in and around the campus of Auburn University.”
Sent to @AuburnU students: "AU ALERT: Rumor of threat to campus not substantiated. Extra police presence on campus…" h/t @Garrett_Dixon
— Yellowhammer (@YHPolitics) April 16, 2014
April 15, 11:39 p.m. — Caleb Mason, who had found the message several weeks ago, revealed that he had alerted authorities, but had not been contacted again until last night (April 15).
“I called the police in Auburn about it like three weeks ago when I saw it,” Mason said. “I called campus security and told them and they said they were going to go check it out but then they couldn’t find it where I told them it was. After that, they called me and asked me to send in the picture.”
“So, I sent them the picture, and they told me to call the police,” he continued. “So I called the police, and they said they would look into it and I never heard back from them. I gave them my phone number and name.”
April 16, 12:18 a.m. — The team from Auburn’s student newspaper found that the original message found on the wall had been removed and painted over at some point in the last several weeks.
Side-by-side comparison of the original threat photo and a current photo of the 2300 Haley Center men's bathroom: pic.twitter.com/y8fLwAuoSq
— The Auburn Plainsman (@TheAUPlainsman) April 16, 2014
April 16, 7:10 a.m. — Auburn University sent out an alert that classes were cancelled for the day due to “student and parent anxiety.” Auburn Police said they did not think the threat was credible.
April 16, 9:00 a.m. — Auburn University released an official statement.
The Auburn University Department of Public Safety & Security and the Auburn Police learned of a threatening message posted in a campus restroom. While we have substantiated no immediate threat, we have canceled classes and suspended normal university operations today because the safety of our students, faculty and employees is our primary concern. Law enforcement officials are actively investigating and increasing security in and around campus. As more information becomes available, we will keep the Auburn family and community informed.
Classes are scheduled to resume Thursday morning.
What do you think? Was the threat “real,” or was it an ill-advised prank? Let us know in the comment section below, or by tweeting @YHPolitics.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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