News > January 31, 2008

By Elliot Engstrom | News editor

Former university student Lucas Caparelli will not return to the university this semester due to a comment written on his Facebook page. Aside from being a university student, Caparelli was also a member of the football team, on which he was a running back. According to University Police, Caparelli wrote that he would “blow up the campus” and that an Uzi submachine gun was “locked and loaded in his bag.”

Caparelli wrote the comment early in January before returning to campus for the spring semester.

The university was informed of the comment Jan. 13 by a concerned student.

Before he had entered his room Jan. 14, University Police encountered Caparelli, searching both his room and his bags.

They did not find any weapons or explosives. “Mr. Caparelli cooperated with University Police,” said Director of Media Relations Kevin Cox. “Ultimately, it was found that no actual threat existed.”

Caparelli is not enrolled at the university this semester.

The University Police department filed papers with the local court system to gain the right to search Caparelli’s computer, which they now have.

The University Police Department investigated Caparelli’s Facebook page after a student came forth with concern about some of the comments that they had seen.

“It is the university’s policy to thoroughly investigate any reports of threats against the campus or its people, and to take appropriate action,” Cox said.

“If no warning is issued, it means that the university has found that no real threat existed.”

The University Police Department has filed paperwork about the incident to the local court system, and these papers are public documents.