A Utica College student has been arrested for allegedly making “terroristic” threats against the school in upstate New York this week, police said.
Fahrudin Omerovic, 23, was arrested Tuesday and charged with four counts of “making a terroristic threat,” according to Utica Police Department spokesman Lt. Bryan Coromato. Investigators believe he made threatening telephone calls to the private college, which had led to a campus lockdown the previous day.
Utica College Public Safety received a telephone call Monday around 11 a.m. ET from someone threatening violence, police said. The school called it a “real, credible threat,” and everyone on campus was asked to shelter in place.
Armed police officers were called to the campus in Utica, about 50 miles east of Syracuse. The lockdown was lifted around 5 p.m. ET after every building on the property was checked and secured, and faculty and staff were released from the campus.
Police ultimately zeroed in on Omerovic as the suspect. He allegedly made the threats using a mobile phone app to disguise his identity, Coromato said.
Omerovic allegedly threatened Utica College again Tuesday but the campus was not locked down because police determined the threat was not credible, authorities said.
Police later located Omerovic at his home in Utica.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, Coromato said.
During his first court appearance Tuesday, a tearful Omerovic apologized and told the judge he didn’t mean any harm, according to ABC Syracuse affiliate WSYR-TV. He is being held at Oneida County Jail on $100,000 bail or $250,000 bond.
It was not immediately clear whether Omerovic has entered a plea or obtained a lawyer.
