STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The suspect in Saturday’s (Oct. 11) anonymous threat involving a possible shooting at Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center was arraigned today (Oct. 13) before Magisterial District Judge Thomas Jordan and charged with misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and disorderly conduct. Penn State University Police arrested Jong Seong Shim, a 20-year-old sophomore from Tinton Falls, N.J., studying engineering at the University Park campus, on Oct. 12. He has admitted to posting an Oct. 11 message on the social media platform Yik Yak in which he threatened to commit a shooting at the HUB.

After receiving tips from students about the concerning threat, police worked with Yik Yak officials to confirm the mobile device used to post the note and Shim’s location. Police found no weapons in a search of Shim’s off-campus residence. The suspect reportedly told police that the threatening post, which indicated he would bring assault rifles to the student union building at noon on Monday and “kill everyone in Penn State main” was a “prank.”

“We are grateful to our very alert and diligent students who first discovered this threat and raised their concerns with police,” said Steve Shelow, Penn State’s assistant vice president for Police and Public Safety. “It is quick reporting by observers and strong cooperation among law enforcement agencies that allowed us to move swiftly to identify and apprehend the suspect.”

Shim is being held at the Centre County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail. His next hearing is scheduled to take place at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 22 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.