kepdawg
12-19-2008, 03:12 AM
LU student arrested, officials say "Virginia Tech" situation averted
12/18/08
KFDM
A Lamar University doctoral student was taken into custody late Wednesday afternoon on a charge of threatening to carry out what the D.A. described to KFDM News as a Virginia Tech-style shooting on the LU campus.
According to court documents obtained by KFDM News, Daniel Siringe, 34, sent an anonymous e-mail on December 10 to Dr. Jimmy Simmons, the President of Lamar University, saying Siringe and a group of other students would interrupt this Saturday's graduation ceremony.
According to a Probable Cause Affidavit obtained by KFDM News, the suspect threatened to "place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury."
"It became quite serious because the threats he made evidenced and showed that the same thing might happen at Lamar that occurred in Virginia, so needless to say this spurred everybody's interest," Jefferson County District Attorney Tom Maness told KFDM News.
Police searched the student's home Wednesday afternoon.
Maness said investigators didn't expect to find anything in the home that could be used to carry out the threat. He said they were looking for clothing or other items to link the student to the e-mail.
Investigators say they traced the e-mail to a Kinko's store, and they say surveillance video shows Siringe at the Kinko's off the Eastex Freeway on December 10, using a computer at the time the threatening e-mail was sent. The affidavit states an employee of the store positively identified Siringe as the person in the surveillance video and a photo line-up. The employee said she'd seen Siringe in the store several times.
Siringe was registered in the chemical engineering doctoral program.
He was denied graduation for not meeting the academic standards of his thesis.
According to the affidavit, on November 18, Siringe met with a Lamar University administrator in an attempt to resolve the issue. The affidavit states that after much debate, the administrator extended an offer to Siringe to "walk" at graduation, but advised Siringe he wouldn't receive his degree until May, 2008. In a sworn affidavit, the LU administrator advised that "Siringi was very frustrated and upset with this proposal."
The affidavit states that on December 10, Dr. Simmons received an e-mail from an unidentified sender who reported that he represented a group of students who'd been denied graduation, and threatened to interrupt the December, 2008 commencement exercise and "place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury."
Dr. Simmons immediately contacted University Police. The department began an investigation and contacted the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the F.B.I for assistance.
The affidavit states "investigators determined that out of all the students who had paid for graduation, only eleven had been denied degrees or participation in graduation for academic or other reasons. Out of the eleven who had been denied, Siringi was the only student who was blaming the school and/or the university staff."
According to the affidavit, investigators Clay Woodward and Rodney Balsamo of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force went to Siringi's place of employment at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and spoke to him about the e-mail.
The affidavit states "Siringi denied any involvement in the letter and was verbally confrontational. He blamed secretaries in the graduate office and said they were trying to victimize him."
The affidavit indicates that with technical assistance from a security technician at LU, investigators were able to determine that the threatening e-mail originated from a Kinko's. Investigators determined that the nearest Kinko's to Siringi's place of employment was the store off the Eastex Freeway in Beaumont.
On Monday, December 15, Woodward and Balsamo went to the store and spoke with the manager. They viewed surveillance video from December 10, and the affidavit states they positively identified Siringi at that location, purchasing time for use on a computer that corresponds with the time that the threatening e-mail was sent.
An investigator said he picked up copies of the surveillance video and determined which terminal Siringi used to send the threatening e-mail.
The affidavit states an employee at the store positively identified Siringi as the person in the surveillance video and a photo line-up. According to the affidavit, the employee said she has seen Siringi in the store several times.
Based on the affidavit, investigators requested and received a warrant charging Siringi with Terroristic Threat, a 3rd Degree Felony.
He was arrested at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
If convicted, he could face up to ten years in prison.
Siringe's bond is $200,000.00.
12/18/08
KFDM
A Lamar University doctoral student was taken into custody late Wednesday afternoon on a charge of threatening to carry out what the D.A. described to KFDM News as a Virginia Tech-style shooting on the LU campus.
According to court documents obtained by KFDM News, Daniel Siringe, 34, sent an anonymous e-mail on December 10 to Dr. Jimmy Simmons, the President of Lamar University, saying Siringe and a group of other students would interrupt this Saturday's graduation ceremony.
According to a Probable Cause Affidavit obtained by KFDM News, the suspect threatened to "place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury."
"It became quite serious because the threats he made evidenced and showed that the same thing might happen at Lamar that occurred in Virginia, so needless to say this spurred everybody's interest," Jefferson County District Attorney Tom Maness told KFDM News.
Police searched the student's home Wednesday afternoon.
Maness said investigators didn't expect to find anything in the home that could be used to carry out the threat. He said they were looking for clothing or other items to link the student to the e-mail.
Investigators say they traced the e-mail to a Kinko's store, and they say surveillance video shows Siringe at the Kinko's off the Eastex Freeway on December 10, using a computer at the time the threatening e-mail was sent. The affidavit states an employee of the store positively identified Siringe as the person in the surveillance video and a photo line-up. The employee said she'd seen Siringe in the store several times.
Siringe was registered in the chemical engineering doctoral program.
He was denied graduation for not meeting the academic standards of his thesis.
According to the affidavit, on November 18, Siringe met with a Lamar University administrator in an attempt to resolve the issue. The affidavit states that after much debate, the administrator extended an offer to Siringe to "walk" at graduation, but advised Siringe he wouldn't receive his degree until May, 2008. In a sworn affidavit, the LU administrator advised that "Siringi was very frustrated and upset with this proposal."
The affidavit states that on December 10, Dr. Simmons received an e-mail from an unidentified sender who reported that he represented a group of students who'd been denied graduation, and threatened to interrupt the December, 2008 commencement exercise and "place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury."
Dr. Simmons immediately contacted University Police. The department began an investigation and contacted the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the F.B.I for assistance.
The affidavit states "investigators determined that out of all the students who had paid for graduation, only eleven had been denied degrees or participation in graduation for academic or other reasons. Out of the eleven who had been denied, Siringi was the only student who was blaming the school and/or the university staff."
According to the affidavit, investigators Clay Woodward and Rodney Balsamo of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force went to Siringi's place of employment at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and spoke to him about the e-mail.
The affidavit states "Siringi denied any involvement in the letter and was verbally confrontational. He blamed secretaries in the graduate office and said they were trying to victimize him."
The affidavit indicates that with technical assistance from a security technician at LU, investigators were able to determine that the threatening e-mail originated from a Kinko's. Investigators determined that the nearest Kinko's to Siringi's place of employment was the store off the Eastex Freeway in Beaumont.
On Monday, December 15, Woodward and Balsamo went to the store and spoke with the manager. They viewed surveillance video from December 10, and the affidavit states they positively identified Siringi at that location, purchasing time for use on a computer that corresponds with the time that the threatening e-mail was sent.
An investigator said he picked up copies of the surveillance video and determined which terminal Siringi used to send the threatening e-mail.
The affidavit states an employee at the store positively identified Siringi as the person in the surveillance video and a photo line-up. According to the affidavit, the employee said she has seen Siringi in the store several times.
Based on the affidavit, investigators requested and received a warrant charging Siringi with Terroristic Threat, a 3rd Degree Felony.
He was arrested at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
If convicted, he could face up to ten years in prison.
Siringe's bond is $200,000.00.