Philly universities: FBI warning of 'unspecified' threat on Monday

Greg Toppo | USATODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Philadelphia colleges on alert after threats posted on 4chan A safety alert was issued by the FBI and ATF after an anonymous user posted threats to the image-sharing website 4chan. Video provided by Newsy

Universities in Philadelphia on Sunday were warning students and faculty about an "unspecified" threat of violence being monitored by local and federal law enforcement agencies.

The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) warned that threats of violence due to take place at 2 p.m. ET Monday had been made against "an unspecified university near Philadelphia," several schools said on their websites.

The University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Drexel University sent out alerts. Authorities said they had no knowledge of specific threat to students or to a particular university.

A statement on Drexel's website said the threat came via "a recent social media posting" after last week's shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Since the shooting, the statement said, "the FBI has seen similar social media postings throughout the country."

It continued: "Although the FBI has assured us there is no specific threat to a particular college or university, we are taking this very seriously and are taking extra precautions to protect the Drexel community."

The schools planned to operate normally Monday, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, but the statements urged students to report any suspicious activity. Drexel said it planned to increase patrols and had asked campus police and security officers to "report and investigate any suspicious person or package."