ORLANDO, Fla. — Across Florida, several colleges and universities—including the University of Central Florida—have received a suspicious email threatening violence on campus if a ransom is not paid.
The FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and local authorities are investigating the threat, which came by email last week.
“Last Tuesday, our college president received a suspicious email that asked for a ransom or threatened a series of bombings and shootings to take place on our campus,” said Ashley Carl, a spokeswoman for Hillsborough Community College.
The school pulled together extra resources in case it wasn’t a hoax and notified students and staff.
The person who sent the email threatened to send mass emails daring to blow up or shoot up members of the student body and staff unless the school paid the sender 1.2 bitcoin, which comes out to around $18,000 currently.
“It makes me feel unsafe. What happens when a real threat occurs? People will think it’s a hoax because of stuff like this,” said Teague Sanders, a UCF student.
Cox Media Group
