The student from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando who committed suicide and who was found with a bag loaded with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and an assault weapon next to his lifeless body early this morning has been identified as 30-year-old James Oliver Seevakumaran, according to Yahoo! News.
At a news conference held earlier today, authorities reported that Seevakumaran was planning a campus attack, but opted instead to take his own life in a university dorm room.
Late Sunday night, Seevakumaran pulled a gun on another UCF student. Fortunately, that student wasn’t harmed and managed to make a 911 call to the campus police.
At almost the exact same time the 911 call was made, a fire alarm in Seevakumaran’s dorm was pulled.
Campus police believe now that Seevakumaran pulled the fire alarm himself in an effort to herd students into an open area where he could use his assault weapon in a mass shooting attack.
As campus police were responding to the 911 report of a man with a gun, Seevakumaran took his own life by shooting himself in the head.
According to UCF Police Chief Richard Beary:
"His timeline got off," Beary said.
"We think the rapid response of law enforcement may have changed his ability to think quickly on his feet."
During the investigation today, roommates of Seevakumaran's informed authorities that the suicide victim did display anti-social behavior, but that he never expressed himself in a violent way.
About 500 students were evacuated from Seevakumaran’s Tower 1 dorm on the UCF campus beginning at approximately 12:20 a.m. this morning. Classes today were cancelled until noon.
UCF reported from their website that at 5:20 p.m. on March 18:
Most of Tower 1 has reopened. Only the third floor, where today’s incident occurred, remains evacuated.
The Veterans Academic Resource Center remains open to serve students who are still unable to return to their rooms.
Counseling services, food and water, as well as places to rest, are available.
For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
Also, see our original report:
Explosives found at UCF campus in Orlando, dorm evacuated, 1 dead
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