UPDATE:
“A 911 call shortly after notified police of a man, later identified as Seevakumaran, with a gun.
Police entered the dorm armed with assault rifles and found Seevakumaran dead of an apparent suicide along with two guns, which included an American-Tech tactical .22 caliber rifle and another handgun, purchased at an Orlando gun store. Four improvised explosive devices were found in a backpack in the dorm. There were also hundreds of rounds of ammo found, officials said.
UCF police chief, Richard Beary, told the media that notes and timelines were found inside the dorm, making it appear that Seevakumaran had plans to make an attack on the campus. A timeline and other laid out plans appear to have been thrown off after authorities responded to the fire alarm quicker than he expected.
“His timeline got off,” Beary said at a press conference. “We think the rapid response of law enforcement may have changed his ability to think quickly on his feet.”
No individuals were named specifically, and he was acting alone, according to preliminary investigations.
Police speculate Seevakumaran pulled the fire alarm himself to get students to evacuate. Thats when Seevakumaran pointed a gun at his roommate, who was able to get to safety and dial 911, police said. The roommate’s 911 call made the response to the fire alarm faster, official said.
UCF Spokesperson, Grant Heston said Seevakumaran wasn’t currently enrolled at UCF and didn’t pay for housing that was due months before. UCF had begun its eviction process but didn’t immediately kick the student off campus.
“We try to take a compassionate approach, not to kick them off on day one,” Heston said.
Seevakumaran’s roommates told officials that he had shown anti-social behavior before but had never expressed any violent tendencies, Beary said. Seevakumaran was never seen by UCF Counseling and Psychological Services and had no student conduct record, UCF confirmed,” (Knight News).
(Information retreived by UCF KnightNews.com)
A male student at UCF found dead early this morning in his dorm room. When police rushed to the scene, a man was laying dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Police say they found an assault weapon along with a bag of explosive devices.
The Orange County bomb squad has been called out to investigate the explosives.
Students were evacuated out of their dorm rooms at 1 a.m. this morning and sent to the UCF Arena.
Campus activities are closed until noon, today.
(Photos courtesy of Jon Shaban, staff of Bay News 9)