University of Central Florida: Body and Explosive Devices Found on Campus (VIDEO)
Authorities have canceled classes until noon and evacuated the University of Central Florida Orlando campus after finding explosive devices and the body of a person in one of the residence halls. Thankfully, no one else was hurt, but investigators are continuing to work to discover what exactly happened last night.
Police received a call at approximately 12:20 a.m.; the call was to report the body of a dead male on campus. Reports state that 500 students were evacuated from their residences as authorities moved in to investigate. The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
An assault-style weapon was among several firearms found in the dorm room, and an explosive device was found in a parking garage across the street from the dorm. The FBI and bomb squad were brought in to investigate the device and possibly detonate it in order to prevent any explosion. It's unclear whether the suicide and the device are related in any way.
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Meanwhile, authorities have assured students that the campus is safe but that the Tower 1 dorm will remain evacuated as the investigation continues. All classes have been canceled in order to allow officials to freely investigate without interference.
"There is no threat to the campus community related to a suspicious death that UCF Police are investigating in Tower 1," officials posted on Facebook. "The building remains evacuated."
"It's scary. Obviously it's in the news and stuff with all the school shootings, but there's not much you can do about it. Obviously they took precautions and emptied out the whole building," UCF student Ryan Elkin told CFNews13.com.
"I would think that they would let us know faster because it was at least two hours; it was at least 2:00 in the morning and this happened at midnight and we didn't know anything for at least two hours. It's sad that it was a student but at least there wasn't high casualties," Nick Eckman added.
Counselors are on campus today and will remain available to students and faculty who may need their help.
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