UK man arrested for 4chan post that triggered university lockdown in Canada

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By BNO NEWS

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in London, England, after allegedly making an online threat that caused a lockdown at the Waterloo campus of Wilfrid Laurier University, Canadian police say.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service said in a statement on Saturday that detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service had arrested a 22-year-old man in northern London on suspicion of malicious communication. “Details of the arrest and potential charges are limited and members of the Waterloo Regional Police Service General Investigations Branch are in consultation with law enforcement agencies to garner further information,” the statement said.

The incident began on Thursday evening when someone posted a threatening message to the 4chan website. “Some of you /b/tards are all right. Don’t go to laurier science building hall tomorrow. happening thread will be posted in the morning,” said the message, which mirrored a message that was posted before the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon earlier this month. (The authenticity of the Oregon message has not been verified.)

The Waterloo campus of Wilfrid Laurier University was placed on lockdown as a result of Thursday’s message, prompting an investigation involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, among others.

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