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A Missouri State University student’s angry tweet last week started a chain of events that led to a police investigation, a visit by detectives to his dorm room, a campus alert about a vague shooting threat and, finally, an explanation that it was all a “bad joke.”
It all started when an MSU student tweeted on Feb. 4 how upset he was that classes were not canceled because of bad weather. That tweet, according to police, was turned into something more threatening by one of the student’s many Twitter followers.
The second message, created by a student at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, started off with the MSU student’s Twitter handle, or user name, and stated: “ ’bout to shoot up his school #MSU BEWARE.”
This was brought to the attention of the MSU police substation and the matter quickly was investigated that day by Springfield detectives.
The News-Leader requested the police investigative report on the incident and received it on Thursday.
MSU did not shut down campus because of the tweet last week but sent out numerous text and email alerts to students, faculty and staff, said MSU spokesman Paul Kincaid.
It is difficult to determine how many times the “ ’bout to shoot up” tweet was re-tweeted because the Jefferson City student has closed his Twitter account.
As part of the Feb. 4 investigation, Springfield police went to the dorm room of the MSU student. The detective’s report states:
“I knocked on the door and (the student) answered. He invited Detective Shipley and I into his room, and he told us he was expecting to hear from law enforcement. (Student) said he was aware of the tweet and the problems it was going to cause.”
The student, a junior who lives in Kentwood Hall, told police that after he tweeted about classes not being canceled, he was surprised to see the second tweet from the student at Lincoln University.
The MSU student told police he immediately tweeted the Lincoln University student and told him “not to tweet things like that because it was going to get him in trouble” and cause local police to “kick” his door down.
The MSU student described the incident as a “bad joke” by the Lincoln University student. He told police he had no intention of harming anyone.
In addition, the MSU student explained that he is in the music business and has over 1,000 Twitter followers,many of whom he doesn’t personally know, including the student in Jefferson City.
The MSU student allowed Springfield police to access his Twitter account. According to the police report, the MSU student was “cooperative and apologetic throughout our contact with him.”
Officers also asked the student if they could search his room for weapons. The student gave permission, according the police report, and no weapons were found. Police determined that a crime was not committed. No one was arrested and the matter is considered closed.
The MSU student did not respond to requests to be interviewed for this story. The News-Leader chose not to name him because police did not indicate any level of wrongdoing on his part.
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