University Police sent out a UF alert early Wednesday morning regarding a threat to "shoot up the college tomorrow."
Identical messages were sent from 15 separate Twitter account holders from across the country and were all addressed to @GatorZoneNews. All tweets arrived around 7 p.m. Tuesday.
According to the alert, UPD believes the threat to be low due to the general language. UPD is also aware of at least one other university that received a similar threat via social media that was later determined to be a hoax. UPD is working with the FBI to find those responsible.
[UPDATE as of 12:30 p.m. 12/3/2014]
UF Spokeswoman Janine Sikes said that an email was sent, as opposed to a text message, because there was no immediate threat.
"The risk is very low. We had to send out a lot of information and a text is not conducive to that," Sikes said.
There is an increased police presence at this time, Sikes said.
"The university is not closed," Sikes said. "Faculty members have been asked to work with students who are concerned. Again, the risk is low."
Some of the Twitter accounts that sent those threats were removed as of last night.
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The exact same tweet came from 15 different accounts from different locations, UPD Captain Jeff Holcomb said.
Holcomb said it's a possibility that the accounts were hacked. Other universities have received similar threats that ended up being a hoax, so he said the threat level isn't high.
If you have any information relating to the threat, please call University Police at 352-392-1111. If you observe any suspicious person activity, immediately call 911.
Check back for more updates.
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