Posted on 10/09/2008 8:21:24 PM PDT by OrangeDaisy
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - A student confessed to sending threatening e-mails that prompted Middle Tennessee State University officials to cancel classes.
"This e-mail was very generic and did not mention any particular person by name or a particular location other than the university as a whole," said MTSU Police Chief Buddy Peaster during a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Police patrolled the Murfreesboro campus as investigators tried to trace the source of the e-mails, which were transmitted beginning Wednesday night. Computers were confiscated from the campus for analysis by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
MTSU student Justin Davis, 19, was arrested for three different charges. He is held on $500,000 bond for three counts of aggravated arson at Miss Mary Hall and one count of act of terrorism.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 25. If the bond is not paid, he be in front of judge in 10 days, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators sought to determine if the e-mails were connected to recent suspicious fires on campus.
Davis, who is from Antioch, lives in Miss Mary residence hall, one of the sites for one of the fires.
Davis is a freshman majoring in dental hygiene. Police said he was charged with arson for a small fire in the residence hall's stairwell.
The university is about 30 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. School housing wasn't evacuated; most of the almost 24,000 students live off campus.
Peaster said police are continuing to look for possible other suspects.
Gov. Phil Bredesen said the events at MTSU are troubling and he hopes everything can be resolved quickly.
"The university's prompt actions today are absolutely warranted, and I commend them for taking these measures to protect the University community," Bredesen said in a statement Thursday. "Unfortunately, we have learned that at times like this, the best path is to err on the side of caution."
I hope things are still calm at Tennessee Tech over in Cookeville
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.