Although UF remained open Wednesday despite a threat to “shoot up the college,” many professors canceled class.
“Faculty members have been asked to work with students who are concerned,” said UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes. “Again, the risk is low.”
University Police sent out a UF alert early Wednesday morning regarding the threat, which UPD Captain Jeff Holcomb said officers believed was a hoax.
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 believed the threat was low due to the general language.
UPD is also aware of at least one other university that received a similar threat via social media, and it was later determined to be a hoax.
Holcomb said it’s a possibility that the accounts were hacked, and UPD is working with the FBI to find those responsible.
As of Wednesday, Sikes said there was an increased police presence on campus.
Sikes said an email was sent as opposed to a text message because there was no immediate threat.
“We had to send out a lot of information, and a text is not conducive to that,” Sikes said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 12/4/2014]
