Student Arrested For Threatening ‘Rampage’
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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — A Southern Illinois University student was arrested after authorities say he threatened a “murderous rampage” similar to the Virginia Tech shootings that left 32 people and the gunman dead.
A gun dealer had alerted federal authorities about the man, saying he had seemed overly anxious to get a shipment of semiautomatic weapons, according to an affidavit filed in court by a police detective. Olutosin Oduwole was charged Tuesday with attempting to make a terrorist threat, a felony. He remained jailed yesterday in lieu of $1 million bail.
According to the affidavit, the 22-year-old student wrote a note demanding that money be deposited to a PayPal account, threatening that “if this account doesn’t reach $50,000 in the next 7 days then a murderous rampage similar to the VT shooting will occur at another highly populated university. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!”
Authorities found the note Friday in Mr. Oduwole’s car on campus, university spokesman Greg Conroy said. Police also said they found a loaded gun in Mr. Oduwole’s dorm room.
The detective said in the affidavit that Mr. Oduwole, of Maplewood, N.J., had recently bought three .38-caliber semiautomatic guns online but had not yet received them, and also had ordered a .45-caliber semiautomatic gun similar to an Uzi.
A gun dealer alerted the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives because Mr. Oduwole “appeared very anxious to get these firearms and seemed very impatient,” the affidavit said.
