Heeding a warning from the FBI, the University of Chicago (UC) closed its campus Monday due to an anonymous threat of gun violence.
Robert Zimmer, the school's president, announced the decision to close the campus and cancel classes in a statement released Sunday. Zimmer stated the FBI noticed a threat of gun violence that would take place at 10 a.m. Monday at UC's quad.
Zimmer also noted the FBI found the threat online, but did not disclose the website from which it originated. Possibly influenced by a rash of recent online threats of violence, UC decided to close its campus, though Zimmer expects normal operations to continue Tuesday.
Despite the closure of the Hyde Park, Ill. campus and the cancellation of all classes and events, the UC Medical Center "will remain open to patients, with added security measures," read the statement.
"In response to the threat, the University will have an increased police and security presence on and around campus, including police personnel with visible weapons and other additional measures," Zimmer wrote. "University security personnel are keeping in close contact with the FBI, which is continuing to investigate the threat."
One UC student who only identified himself as Will told The Chicago Tribune he plans to take Zimmer's warning a step further.
"I'm not going down there tomorrow, and I don't have plans on going down there on Tuesday," Will said. "For a threat like this, I want to give a few days to cool off. I think it's pretty extraordinary that the president interceded and canceled everything. I think that suggests something pretty serious is happening."
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, police temporarily shut down a portion of the 101 Freeway because about 10 passersby called 911 after spotting suspicious characters toting guns. The suspicious characters turned out to be L.A.-area film students shooting a project and the guns were fake, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Ahead of the holiday weekend, Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard cancelled all classes and activities last Tuesday due to what he called racist hate speech and a "specific threat" toward students. The Seattle Times reported. The school's Thanksgiving Break was scheduled to begin Wednesday.
About a week earlier, Washington College closed its Maryland campus for multiple consecutive days when a student went missing after taking a gun from his family's home, The Washington Post reported. The student had been suspended previously and threats of violence appeared online shortly before he went missing, but it is unclear if the two instances were connected.
Earlier this month, three people were arrested for making violent threats online toward the University of Missouri during the demonstrations over the school system president's resignation. According to Reuters, law enforcement suspected one of the people arrested had a "deep interest" in the massacre at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.
