This happened at the school I attend the day after the NIU shootings. The spooky thing is that I have passed this young man in the hall many times and even sat next to his table during lunch! Talk about SCARY....what is our world coming to?
Police arrest SWIC student who threatened to shoot others on campus
BY BETH HUNDSDORFER
News-Democrat
BELLEVILLE --A Southwestern Illinois College student faces charges after police said he threatened to shoot students at the Belleville campus on Friday.
Steven E. Ellis, 21, of 300 Warrensburg, near Belleville, was charged Saturday with one count of falsely making a terrorist threat.
Ellis approached another student Friday and attempted to recruit him in a plan to shoot SWIC students in a plot similar to the shootings at Northern Illinois University the day before, St. Clair County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Johnson said.
"The individual that he spoke to didn't want anything to do with the plot and immediately told the college's Public Safety Department," Johnson said.
Officials in the department then called the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, who immediately sent investigators to the campus to pick up Ellis for questioning, Johnson said.
Investigators said they did not know whether Ellis was serious about his plans, but that they were taking the threat seriously.
While Investigator Mike Hundelt interviewed Ellis, other investigators searched Ellis' home, Johnson said.
"We found nothing to substantiate the threat," Johnson said, noting if any weapons or plans were found, Ellis could face a stiffer felony charge that carries a possible penalty of up to 30 years in prison.
Ellis remains in the St. Clair County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
SWIC officials released a statement Saturday regarding Ellis arrest:
"Southwestern Illinois College has a comprehensive safety policy and procedures in place that brought this to light in a most timely manner," the release stated.
"This case was handled successfully because of the cooperation of the Southwestern Illinois College Public Safety Department and the Sheriff's Department," Johnson said. "We don't want people to be afraid to send their kids to classes, that's why we will act aggressively in pursuing threats at college campuses."
Further investigation revealed Ellis, who wore black and dressed in "gothic" fashion, stated he wanted to shoot "everyone who was not gothic," Johnson said.
The goth subculture began in the 1980s as an offshoot of the punk music scene and has influences on fashion, hair and makeup styles and music.
The day before police said Ellis made the threats, five students were killed when Steven Kazmeircak, a former NIU student, walked into a geology class and started firing a gun.
In July, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville student Olutosin "Tosin" Oduwole was charged with making a terrorist threat after police said he ordered several semiautomatic weapons and then found a threat scrawled on a piece of paper in his car, threatening a "murderous rampage."
The note also referenced the shootings at Virginia Tech University last year.
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