![Student at Carnegie Mellon sent email with terroristic style message. - [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/2/17/660x290/b_502x220x82/student-at-carnegie-mellon-sent-email-with-terroristic-style-message-photo-wikimedia-commonscc-20_1838929.jpg "Student at Carnegie Mellon sent email with terroristic style message. - [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]")
Just days after the Parkland shooting, Carnegie Mellon University student, Derek Li, is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and facing criminal charges after sending a message that was considered a potential terroristic threat.
The message was delivered through an anonymous message system that was part of a course that Derek Li was enrolled in. The messages are delivered to the instructor of the course via e-mail. Campus security stopped Li as he was leaving a class and took him in for questioning. Local law enforcement considered this a credible threat made by Li and has since removed him from the Carnegie Melon community.
Police took it as a credible threat
Action News 4 reported that the e-mail said that Li wished he could use a sniper rifle on the roof and "off" the people walking the streets, going from building to building. The e-mail also details possible targets, including a baby in a stroller and a man reading a book on a bench. In the message, Derek Li says he wants to make an impact and that a sniper rifle is a tool that can change the tide in an instant.
The class professor alerted campus security as soon as the e-mail was found and investigators managed to track down the IP address used to send the e-mail. Law enforcement says Li admitted to sending the e-mail. but claims he took the language from a Reddit posting.
Li also told law enforcement that he does not actually own any weapons. According to CBS News in Pittsburgh, making terroristic threats is only a misdemeanor, meaning Li was not arrested and not held in jail. Derek Li was also charged with one count of disorderly conduct and a third-degree misdemeanor.
Carnegie Mellon urges community to speak up
According to Trib Live, Carnegie Melon interim President Farnam Jahanian released a statement to students and faculty saying the e-mail contained a threatening message and disturbing imagery. He said that they [Carnegie Mellon] must take any threat seriously. Law enforcement acted swiftly and promptly handled the situation.
As law enforcement was investigating the threat, campus police chief Thomas Ogden ordered that all school rooftops be patrolled and secured by security. Carnegie Mellon has not commented any further on the threat made by Derek Li. Jahanian urged the community to report any possible threat immediately, and that the stakes are too high to risk ignoring any threat. Carnegie Mellon remains on edge as mass shootings continue to be a reality, as Parkland came face to face with a mass shooting.
