University of Missouri-Columbia student Hunter Park was taken into custody Wednesday at one of the university’s residence halls. The charges against him were making a “terrorististic threat” using the app Yik Yak, according to Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Knight.
Park was charged with making the alleged threat to “shoot every black person I see” on Wednesday, after tensions had risen surrounding violence toward black students on campus. Other students on campus reported via Twitter that they saw a group of men wearing bandannas, covering their faces, and yelling racial slurs at black students.
Other anonymous posts on Yik Yak included: “We’re waiting for you at the parking lots. We will kill you,” and “Don’t go to campus tomorrow.”
Park is a sophomore at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, which is within the MU system.
“Threats of violence of any kind are not tolerated,” says Cheryl B. Schrader, Missouri S&T Chancellor . “As a campus, we are grateful that this situation did not escalate. As always, the safety of our students, faculty and staff is our utmost concern.”
The suspect was not on or near the campus at the time the threat was posted, according to the university website.
Park was held on a $4,500 bond at Columbia. His initial arraignment was scheduled for this Thursday. The university said that no weapons were found during the police investigation.
A Northwest Missouri State University freshman, Connor Stottlemyre, was also arrested in connection with the threats, according to the Kansas City Star.
The racial tensions on campus followed the resignation of Tim Wolfe, who had served as president of the University of Missouri system, and the stepping down of R. Bowen Loftin as chancellor of the Columbia campus. Wolfe’s resignation came after students protested racist incidents on campus that he failed to address, and this has left the MU system in a flurry of ongoing racial tensions.