WINONA, Minn. – A Winona State freshman was so irritated that classes weren’t cancelled that he posted a death threat online to university President Scott Olson. The message, on the social media site Yik Yak, was explicit: “I’m going to end President Olson (this is a death threat, run).” When police confronted the student at his dorm, he said that “everybody” was angry that other schools had cancelled classes because of weather but not Winona State. The student, who is 18, said he was acting out those frustrations. “A joke,” he told officers. The message went out from the student’s university-issued laptop at 6:02 p.m. President Olson was unaware of the message until after 8 p.m. when he was alerted by campus security, which had been notified by city police. Police were on campus and interrogating the student within roughly two hours of the Yik Yak post. Police Chief Tom Williams said Olson was satisfied with how fast the issue was handled. The student was not taken into custody.
Olson. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.
Quick tracking
The death threat was on Yik Yak, a social media app that allows discussion threads within a five-mile radius. The messages are called “yaks.” This yak was at 6:02 p.m. Yik Yak filters identified the message and deleted it. Then these things happened:
> Yik Yak alerted the National Threat Assessment Center with information on the device of origin.
> The Center alerted the FBI.
> The FBI alerted the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
> The BCA alerted Winona police. All this by 8 p.m.
> Police alerted campus security.
> Police were at the student’s dorm room within minutes