BLACKSBURG, Va., March 19, 2010 – Over the past two weeks, our community has been subjected to an ongoing series of threatening and harassing messages. These messages have been posted on websites and been e-mailed to a few individuals across campus. The messages have been disruptive to our community and have resulted in understandable concern for our safety and security.
From the outset, Virginia Tech and law enforcement officials have taken the threats very seriously and expended significant efforts in investigating the situation and taking actions to protect the community.
Law enforcement officials have been, and remain, very confident that the threats have continued to originate from Italy and that the person responsible is not in a position to be a danger to the university community. Virginia Tech Police continues to work closely with state and federal law enforcement agencies to resolve this situation.
Earlier this week, the subject made references to March 18, with the implication that some act of violence would occur on that day. Law enforcement authorities were confident that the subject remained in Italy. However, aware of the level of community concern, we had a significant presence of officers throughout campus yesterday, both out in the open and through academic and administrative buildings. There were officers in uniform as well as those in plain clothes.
Virginia Tech Police have received calls inquiring if there were any problems yesterday. Deputy Chief Gene Deisinger confirmed that there were no reported incidents regarding this matter.
There have been no new reports (of threatening postings or emails) since Wednesday, March 17.
As always, if you have concerns for your safety, or have information that would assist the investigation of this case, please contact the Virginia Tech Police Department at (540) 231-6411.