(Reuters) - A 23-year-old Utica College student was arrested on Tuesday over threatening calls he is suspected of making that led to a lockdown at the upstate New York school the previous day, police said.
Fahrudin Omerovic, a student at the college who took classes online, was arrested at his home on suspicion of making the calls to the college and police on Monday and Tuesday, Utica Police Chief Mark Williams told a news conference.
The lockdown at the private college about 45 miles (72 km) east of Syracuse came at a time of heightened tension in U.S schools, after a gunman killed 17 people at a Florida high school on Feb. 14.
Omerovic was on the Utica College campus when he made the threats, using a phone app that hid his identity, Walker said. He faces multiple charges, including making a terroristic threat, which carries a sentence of between two and seven years, authorities said.
Police said on Monday they had received a threat from someone who said they were armed. Walker said they found no weapons in Omerovic’s possession and declined to comment on a motive for the calls.
The campus was not locked down again on Tuesday as authorities determined Omerovic did not pose a significant threat, police said.
It could not be immediately determined if Omerovic had a lawyer to comment.
Reporting by Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico, Additional reporting by Suzannah Gonzales, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien