Police say a 16-year-old boy is being blamed for an anonymous threat that forced officials to shut down Marist College's campus Friday morning.
Police say the teen, a Poughkeepsie resident, tweeted threats twice over a seven-hour period on Thursday, prompting officials at Marist to lock down campus for several hours.
One of the tweets, first reported by the Poughkeepsie Journal, stated "Brb Going To Shoot Up Marist College."
Classes were canceled and university offices were closed due to the threats. The campus reopened at about noon, after officials deemed the campus safe. No classes were held that afternoon and the campus remained closed.
Student Ryan Decker said his roommate got the alerts from the college urging him to stay in the dorms until further notice.
"It called him and woke us up and told us that we couldn't leave," he said. "I don't know, it's like scary. It's sad that people would do this."
"Honestly I was in shock," said student Delia Butler. "I always feel so safe here on campus and hearing something like that, why would they target this amazing small school?"
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School events Friday evening, including the men's basketball team's home opener, will go on as planned, according to the Journal.
Police say that the teen appears to have acted on his own, and that his threats weren't legitimate.
It's not clear if the teen is being charged with any crimes.
"With everything that goes on with social media and active shootings, you gotta take everything seriously," said student Frank La Sala. "You never know what could happen."
