(Information updated Friday, Nov. 13, to reflect arrest.)

Tyler J. Bradenberg of St. Louis was charged Thursday (Nov. 12, 2015) on allegations of making a terroristic threat on social media. He was arrested on Friday, Nov. 13. He is not a student at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Shortly after noon on Wednesday, Nov. 11, the Missouri University of Science and Technology Police Department received a report of a post on the anonymous social media platform Yik Yak stating, “Im gonna shoot up this school.” Initial reports suggested the post was made from a location outside the Missouri S&T Police Department, located at 1201 N. State St. in Rolla. Through further investigation, it was determined that Bradenburg had used GPS-spoofing technology and actually made the post from St. Louis.

The Rolla Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol assisted Missouri S&T police with the investigation.

“Missouri S&T absolutely does not tolerate threats of violence of any kind,” Missouri S&T Chancellor Cheryl B. Schrader said in a statement to the campus. “When such threats are discovered, we act on them appropriately to protect our campus community.”

Bradenberg, a former Missouri S&T student, is not enrolled at the university.

“In a free society, individuals have the right to express themselves in many ways. However, threats of any kind are never acceptable on this campus or in our society,” Schrader told the campus. “The anonymity of social media platforms like Yik Yak do not give individuals license to behave irresponsibly. And, as we know in this instance, ‘anonymous’ sites are never truly anonymous.”