Bombs, Guns Found Inside University of Central Florida Dorm Room During Student Suicide Investigation

By Howard Koplowitz | March 18 2013 9:39 AM

The campus of the University of Central Florida is closed until 12 p.m. after authorities found a man dead of an apparent suicide early Monday morning along with guns and improvised explosive devices in a dorm room, according to the Orlando school.

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UCF police found “a victim who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the university said, adding that the Tower 1 dorm (pictured) was evacuated and a campus parking lot was closed due to the incident.

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Campus police responded to the Tower 1 dorm after receiving a fire alarm call around 12:20 a.m. Monday. At the same time, police received a 911 call about a man with a gun, UCF wrote on its website.

Police found “a victim who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the university said, adding that the Tower 1 dorm was evacuated and a campus parking lot was closed due to the incident.

The school’s statement did not say whether the victim was a student, but 13 News said he did attend UCF.

Investigators found “a handgun, an assault weapon and IEDs” in the room, according to the university.

UCF spokesman Grant Heston told the Associated Press that the school does not believe students are in immediate danger.

“We don’t believe there is any imminent threat to the campus,” he said.

Kim Wilmath, a spokeswoman for State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan, echoed that statement.

“As far as we know, no other students are in danger,” she told the AP.

UCF junior Antonio Whitehead, 21, was in the dorm when the fire alarm went off. At first, he thought the alarm was routine, but then he saw a crowd approaching the residence hall.

"All of a sudden, I felt the crowd move a little faster. And a police officer with a machine gun or something told everyone to start moving a lot faster," Whitehead told the AP.

The Orange County Bomb Squad was called in to investigate the IEDs along with the FBI, the school said.

“University police responded immediately when we received a fire alarm call and a subsequent 911 call,” UCF Police Chief Richard Beary said in the statement. “The safety of our students in Tower 1 and our entire campus community is our top priority.”

UCF student Ryan Elkin said the fact that a student had bombs on campus is a “scary” thought.

“Obviously, it's in the news and stuff with all the school shootings but there's not much you can do about it. Obviously they took precautions and emptied out the whole building," he told 13 News.

The UCF main campus is closed until 12 p.m., and non-essential employees were told to take the day off, the college said.

Students who had to be evacuated were urged to go to the Student Union or the Veteran’s Academic Resource Center if they needed counseling, the school said.