Philly Threat After Oregon Shooting Prompts Heightened Security in Schools
A threat posted online after the horrific Oregon shooting prompted authorities in Philadelphia to heighten security measures in colleges and universities.
On Friday, a post threatening to carry out an armed attack against a university in the Philadelphia area was posted on 4chan. This is the same website in which a post threatening a "northwest" school appeared the day before the deadly Oregon shooting that left nine people dead, according to Philly.com.
"This is only the beginning… On October 5, 2015 at 1:00 PM CT, a fellow robot will take up arms against a university near Philadelphia," Philly quotes the threat posted on 4chan. "His cries will be heard, his victims will cower in fear, and the strength of the Union will decay a little more."
Last Thursday, 26-year-old Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer shot dead his English teacher and eight students inside the Umpqua Community College campus in Roseburg, Oregon. The mass shooting happened a night before a post was put on 4chan warning students in the "northwest" not to go to school the following day, the Washington Post reports.
The said post was accompanied with a cartoon frog holding a gun. On Friday, the same cartoon image was posted with the Philly threat, but a ski mask was added to the human-like frog, the report adds.
In the wake of the Philly threat on 4chan, several universities, including Temple University, Drexel University, La Salle University, and the University of Pennsylvania, sent out safety warnings about a possible attack to be carried out on Monday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, the report details.
As of now, information about the author of the Philly threat and the Oregon threat are yet to be released by authorities. Despite the possible danger that looms ahead, there are some students who remain unperturbed by the threat and expressed their intention to still go to school.
