Threatening Incident at University of Missouri-Rolla

A graduate student at the University of Missouri-Rolla took several people hostage at the university and then claimed that there were explosives and anthrax present. 23 people were decontaminated at the scene, and the investigations continue.

A distraught graduate student claiming to have a bomb and anthrax sparked a police standoff in a classroom building Tuesday that shut down the University of Missouri-Rolla for several hours, officials said.

Nearly two dozen people, including a faculty member and eight other students, were being decontaminated after a white, powdery substance was found.

School officials said ''possible bomb materials'' were also found when the man was taken into custody. Officials described the man as a graduate student who was apparently depressed and upset about his grades.

The standoff started around 2:30 a.m. in a civil engineering building on campus.

Acting Police Chief Mark Kearse said that when police arrived, the student held up a bag and said: ''This is a bomb.'' He was armed with a knife and also claimed to have anthrax, Kearse said.

Police used a stun gun to subdue him. They also found a four-page note in which the student threatened to destroy the building, Kearse said.

Early reports claim that the individual, not named and identified only as an international graduate student, was distraught and perhaps depressed.

This incident reminds me of an incident at my alma mater, SUNY Albany back in 1994 when a mentally ill student, Robert Tortorici, held a class hostage for several hours until students in the class managed to disarm him but not before one student was shot and badly injured.

Sometimes a distraught and depressed student is just that - distraught and depressed. Sometimes, however, there is more there. This story is still developing, so it remains to be seen what his motives really were.

UPDATE:
No sign of anthrax involved, even as earlier reports noted that the still unnamed student claimed to have a bomb and anthrax. Also, the earlier reports of decontamination were incorrect - the 23 people that were affected by the incident were held in quarantine to watch for symptoms.

UPDATE:
The material that the individual claimed was anthrax was actually sugar. His identity has still not been revealed, but he is currently being held by the Rolla Police Department.