Update: Recipients of the original messages have now received an apology from the same e-mail address.

Original story: The e-mails threatening death to hundreds of Harvard students and affiliates may not be credible, according to a community advisory from Steven Catalano, Harvard University Police Department’s Public Information Officer. Initial investigation indicates that the e-mails were sent from overseas, undercutting the legitimacy of its authors claim to live in Boston.

The threat was sent at approximately 4:45 p.m. Friday, according to initial university police correspondence. While the full content of the message was not provided by authorities, The Crimson student newspaper provided further details about the “racially charged’’ e-mail:

Addressed to “All students at Harvard,’’ the text of both emails included what appeared to be racist language. The emails referred to their intended recipients as “slit-eyes.’’ Many, but not all, of the emails’ intended recipients appear to have Asian surnames. The e-mails were not anonymous. In the emails, the author or authors self-identified as Stephanie Nguyen and claimed to live in Boston. The address from which the first email was received, however, identified the sender as Eduardo Nguyen. The second identified the sender as Huy Dinh.


University police have enlisted the help of other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. These agencies will continue to investigate, and the school’s police have heightened security on campus. Anyone with information about the threat is asked to contact university police at (617) 495-1212.

Anyone with information about the threat is asked to contact university police at (617) 495-1212.

One student posted what she said was a screenshot of one of the messages on Twitter: