NC State, Virginia Tech and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) all received the same email threat on Monday. The College of William and Mary has also received similar threats, according to The News & Observer.
“I am here to inform that in the next couple of days I will break into the campus and will kill as many people as I can until the police arrives (sic),” read the email from an anonymous sender, according to the Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech’s student newspaper.
The email was sent to two confirmed faculty members at NC State, as well as dozens of students and faculty at Virginia Tech. At this time, the Technician has no confirmation of other NC State students, faculty or staff receiving a similar threat.
The NC State University Police Department released a WolfAlert on Monday regarding the threats. However, Virginia Tech’s alert system, VT Alerts, has not sent any messages regarding the incident, according to Richard Chumney, news editor for the Collegiate Times.
“They’re actually really big on the alert system here now,” Chumney said. “We did not get any sort of alert, though, about the threatening emails. It was just an email sent from the Virginia Tech Police Department to everybody’s account. The alert system [the university has], you’ll get a text message, you’ll get an email, you’ll get a desktop notification if you have that specific app.”
One of the NC State faculty members who received the threat notified the NC State University Police Department early evening on Monday, according to Major David Kelly, the support services commander for the department. NC State’s police department has since been cooperating with the FBI and the North Carolina Information Sharing and Analysis Center on the investigation.
According to Kelly, the threat was traced back to a location overseas.
On Monday, security guards were posted outside of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) office on Centennial Campus although the building remained open, according to WRAL. No classes were interrupted or other offices closed, according to Mick Kulikowski, assistant director for news and national media coordinator.
More than one instructor at Virginia Tech cancelled classes, while others locked the door during class, according to the Collegiate Times. However, Virginia Tech did not go on lockdown or cancel all classes.
The USDA closed six offices in five states after several employees at each location received the same email threats.
In an email to employees, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the closure of the offices was “due to the serious nature of these threats.” The APHIS Office on Centennial Campus was among those closed.
Most of these offices, including those on Centennial Campus, have since been reopened, according to a WolfAlert sent out on Tuesday.
The Collegiate Times reported that at least four separate accounts received emails with “Warning” as the subject line. The sender used at least four names, including Rex King, Robert Birdman, Jack Bauer and John Grind.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the Department of Homeland Security is working with the USDA “to ensure the safety of their offices and the personnel that work there.”
The Virginia Tech Police Department has been posting updates about the situation since Monday after, with its most recent release on Wednesday at 10:41 a.m.
“At this point in the investigation, it does not appear that the location of origin of the threatening emails is within the region. Numerous reports of similar incidents from throughout the United States continue to be communicated to the Virginia Tech Police Department, and all of the agencies involved continue to collectively investigate this matter,” according to the release.
