Fairleigh Dickinson University student charged with making threat that prompted campus lockdown

A Fairleigh Dickinson University student was in custody Friday after he allegedly threatened to harm a fellow student or students with a gun, which led to a shelter-in-place order lasting several hours at the campus in Madison.
The man, whose name was not released, is charged with third-degree terroristic threats in the incident, authorities said. The incident began Wednesday night and led to a lockdown that lasted until Thursday morning while police searched for a possible gunman on campus.
Police and university officials said they later learned the student made the threat from an off-campus location.
“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our community members, we immediately reported the incident to local police and issued a shelter in place for those on campus,” Joseph Vitiello, the university’s director of public safety, said in a statement.
“After concluding that the individual was not on campus and not an immediate threat, police advised us to lift the order and issue an all-clear bulletin, which we did at 2:45 a.m.” on Thursday, Vitello said.
Police said their investigation determined the alleged threat was “not a general threat to the campus as a whole,” but toward a specific student or students.
A warrant was issued for the man’s arrest and he surrendered to police shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday. He remained Friday at the Morris County Jail awaiting a court hearing, police said.
No attorney information for the student was immediately available.
Angelo Carfagna, a university spokesman, said the student’s future at the school will be determined at a later date.
“We will follow our judicial process, and the student will be held accountable according to guidelines in our Code of Student Conduct,” Carfagna said.
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