Media Representative Brad Ware from the FBI Springfield Division released a statement Tuesday about the two threats the university received Sept. 19 and 20. The statement reads:

“As the SIU community is aware, someone sent communications in September, threatening acts of mass targeted violence against the entire SIU community. Although the language was frightening and motivated police to enhance security efforts, it was reported at the time that the actual threat lacked credibility. We have not identified the person responsible for these communications, but we still believe that this person had a message to send to the community and to law enforcement. We believe this person has some type of grievance related to what he perceives to have been a wrong, or a series of wrongs done to him. We don’t know what his grievance is, but we would like to know, and we’re willing to try to help him resolve this situation. We understand that the holidays can be particularly stressful with the economic and social challenges we are facing. This time of year can be especially difficult to those who feel wronged and alone.

“The FBI has recently received another communication from someone claiming to be the same author of the September messages. We are unsure as to what the person is now requesting. We are considering whether or not this new communication is from a copycat, so we would ask the person to please re-contact us so that we can better understand how he has been wronged and what can be done to address these concerns.”

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