Emory University student says she was 'joking' when she made online threat to shoot up campus, police say.
A 21-year-old sophomore at Emory University’s Oxford campus has been arrested and charged with making a terrorist threat after she claimed online she was going on a shooting rampage at the Georgia campus, according to police.
Emily Sakamoto was arrested and jailed Sunday, police said. She was released Monday night after posting $1,500 bail, Newton County Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Crun told INSIDE EDITION.
“I’m shooting up the school. Tomorrow. Stay in your rooms. The ones on the quad are the ones who will go first,” Sakamoto allegedly posted on Yik Yak, an anonymous messaging app.
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Emory police said Sakamoto confessed to making the threat, but “thought it was a joke and not against law,” according to her arrest warrant, cited by WXIA-TV.
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Several students took screen grabs of the threatening post and forwarded them to the Emory Police Department, which was able to track the message to Sakamoto, authorities said.
“There are certain things you can joke about, but saying you’re going to shoot the school campus isn’t really one of those things,” sophomore Kenquavius McCollum told the station.
In a statement, the university said an Oxford College student had been arrested and charged with “making terrorist threats against the university as a result of a social media message that she posted.”
Emory officials “will take swift and appropriate action to maintain the security of the campus community,” the statement said.
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