URBANA, Ill. – The University of Illinois says a former student was arrested Tuesday for allegedly threatening to “shoot up the school.”
U of I police say Jonathan Zheng, 22, was arrested at his home in Wesley Chapel, Florida, northeast of Tampa, on a charge of Written Threats to Kill or Conduct a Mass Shooting.
Zheng, police say, used an anonymous name on a U of I Reddit group to make the threat toward the main Urbana-Champaign campus, which Reddit later removed, but also allegedly contained other threatening material.
Officials say Zheng told police in Pasco County, Florida that he wrote the post.
Zheng previously was dismissed from the university, but they can’t release any more student data.
“There were a lot of moving parts to this investigation in a very quick timeframe,” said U. of I. Police Chief Alice Cary, in a news release. “For one thing, we had an observant community member who immediately reported alarming social media content.”
U of I Police are consulting with federal authorities to see if additional charges should be filed.
Zheng remains jailed in Florida. No word on if or when he will be extradited back to Illinois.
“Police investigators acted quickly to identify the person responsible, and law enforcement cooperation extended beyond state lines,” Cary said. “Everyone involved recognized the seriousness of this threat and acted immediately to keep our campus community safe.”
