No one was hurt on the Mizzou campus, but the man making the alleged threats admitted to police he had a "deep interest" in the Oregon shooter, court records say.
The suspect, Hunter M. Park, 19, of Lake Saint Louis, appeared on video from the Boone County Jail in Columbia for his initial appearance Thursday in court.
Park did not enter a plea to the charge of making a terrorist threat, but his Columbia-based attorney, Jeffrey Hilbrenner, moved that Judge Kimberly Shaw consider a $10,000 bond. As of Thursday, Park was being held without bond in the Boone County Jail.
Hilbrenner said he understood the severity of the charges against Park. He sought the bond under the conditions that Park would be held on home detention and forbidden from using the Internet. He also asked Shaw to consider that Park has excelled academically and has no criminal record.
Hilbrenner also argued for a reduction in bond because of medical issues that he said could be exacerbated in jail. He did not describe the medical issues.
Andrea Hayes, assistant prosecuting attorney for Boone County, said that Park should be held without bond.
"Threats were made to the community and we believe he is a danger," she told Shaw.
Hilbrenner responded by saying that Park, according to the probable cause statement, had cooperated with law enforcement and didn't possess the means to carry out any attack.
Shaw denied Hilbrenner's motion for bond reduction, but ordered a bond investigation, which could result in change to Park's bond.
Park's next court date was scheduled for Nov. 18 at 1:30 p.m.
The threats posted to social media Tuesday included: "I’m going to stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person I see," "Some of you are alright. Don’t go to campus tomorrow," and "Well tomorrow Mizzou will really make national news."
They were posted to on Yik Yak, an anonymous location-based online app.
MU Campus Police Officer Dustin Heckmaster said in a probable cause statement Wednesday that he recognized the wording in one of the threatening messages — "Some of you are alright. Don't go to campus tomorrow" — as the same wording from a posting tied to Chris Harper-Mercer, the Oct. 1 shooter at the Umpqua Community College in rural Oregon.
"At the time of the Yik Yak postings it was unknown if the anonymous poster was planning a copycat school shooting," Heckmaster said, in a probable cause statement.
Heckmaster then detailed how police found Park.
University police say Yik Yak gave police the cellphone number used to create the Yik Yak account. The cellphone number was an AT&T number, and the phone company gave police Park's name and used a ping to locate where the phone was.
Yik Yak and AT&T both released the information after the office made an emergency request due to "exigent circumstances."
When officers arrived at Park's dorm room early Wednesday morning, he invited them in, Heckmaster said.
After a brief interview, he confessed, Heckmaster said.
According to the court papers, this is the conversation Park had with the officer:
Park "admitted to posting each inflammatory Yik Yak post," Heckmaster said. "Hunter admitted the posts were 'inappropriate.'"
Heckmaster said he asked Park why he posted about shooting black people. He replied he didn't know, the court records say.
Heckmaster asked Park if the posts were a saber-rattling incident. Park replied, "Pretty much," police say.
Heckmaster asked Park what he meant when he said, "Some of you are alright; don't go to campus tomorrow."
"Hunter smiled and stated, 'I was quoting something.'"
Heckmaster asked if he was quoting the Umpqua shooter. Park replied, "mmhmm."
Heckmaster asked him why he had quoted the phrase. "I don't know I just .... deep interest."
Authorities said no weapons connected to Park were found.
Park is a 2014 graduate of Wentzville Holt High School, where he was known as a brilliant student. As a member of the school’s robotics team, he won many awards, and advanced to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles.
He is a sophomore majoring in computer science at Rolla, said Mary Helen Stoltz, manager of external relations there.
On his LinkedIn page, Park, describes himself as a student studying computer science and physics. He said he helps develop new algorithms for cell segmentation and is looking to attend graduate school in either computer science or mathematics.
Missouri law defines making a terroristic threat as having “the purpose of frightening ten or more people or causing the evacuation, quarantine or closure of any portion of a building, inhabitable structure, place of assembly or facility of transportation.”
In court documents made public Thursday, prosecutors say he committed a felony that would be punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Some black students at Mizzou have said they feel unsafe on campus. A graduate student went on hunger strike. More than 30 members of the Missouri football team joined in the protest.
University of Missouri System President Timothy M. Wolfe resigned Monday and, hours later, the Columbia campus chancellor, R. Bowen Loftin, was forced to step down.
Campus police began urging students Tuesday to report any hateful or hurtful speech, even if it wasn’t a crime. The MU police reportedly had increased its presence on campus even before hearing of the threats. Police say they are investigating several social media posts, including a tweet from a woman reportedly saying "black students should stop protesting and start killing."
When the Yik Yak threats started circulating Tuesday, campus police at Mizzou said they received more than 50 calls reporting it between 7:38 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. that night. By Wednesday, police said they had heard from more than 100 callers. The University of Missouri Police Department "took measures to move student groups to safe spots as a result of these posts," court records say.
At Missouri S&T, Chancellor Cheryl B. Schrader said in a statement: “Threats of violence of any kind are not tolerated. As a campus, we are grateful that this situation did not escalate. I thank both of the police departments for their swift action in handling this case.”
Meanwhile, a freshman at Northwest Missouri State University was charged Thursday with two counts of making a terrorist threat for posts saying he wanted to "shoot up" a dorm there and that he was going to "shoot any black ppl tomorrow."
Connor B. Stottlemyre, 19, of Blue Springs, Mo., faces one felony and one misdemeanor. Police said they weren't sure if the threats were linked to the situation at Mizzou.
Brooks Buffington, Yik Yak’s co-founder, weighed in online Wednesday morning, saying: “This sort of misbehavior is NOT what Yik Yak is to be used for. Period.”
“It’s our hope that the range of discussion on MU’s campus can help to bring about positive resolution and a better understanding within the community,” Buffington wrote. “But there’s a point where discussion can go too far — and the threats that were posted on Yik Yak last night were both upsetting and completely unacceptable.”
———
©2015 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
