FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – A former UCLA employee is arrested in Colorado in Tuesday, after allegedly threatening UCLA.
31-year-old Mathew Christopher Harris allegedly wrote an 800 page manifesto and sent a video to the UCLA philosophy dept.
The video was titled “UCLA PHILOSOPHY MASS SHOOTING” and it threatened a mass shooting on UCLA’s campus.
That information was sent to the UCLA Police Department which tracked Harris to Boulder and notified police there.
The Boulder Police Department in Colorado arrested Harris on Tuesday after receiving information detailing numerous threats of violence to the community.
Boulder Police say that the suspect sent out an email with a link to an 800-page manifesto that threatened violence.
Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said they identified thousands of references to violence in that manifesto.
The level that we saw in the manifesto was obviously so alarming. We have not made connections yet across states, and that’s why we have federal partners looking at this as well. But I can tell you it was very violent, and it was very disturbing.
-Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold
UCLA posted the following message to the Bruin community:
Dear Students: We are greatly relieved to share that law enforcement officers in Colorado have taken into custody the individual who made threats against some members of our UCLA community yesterday. While the campus will continue with plans to keep instruction remote today, with this development, we will return to in-person instruction tomorrow. The threats made yesterday were frightening for many of us and caused our community to feel vulnerable at an already challenging time. We know many Bruins turned to one another for support. Campus counseling is also available at 310-825-0768 for anyone who needs additional care. These are unsettling times and your well-being is a top priority, so please do not hesitate to reach out for help if you need it. We also wanted to address some reports of gunshots heard on Hilgard Avenue last night. LAPD investigated and found no evidence that gunshots had been fired. We offer our deepest thanks to UCPD and other law enforcement agencies for thoroughly investigating these threats as soon as we learned of them and for coordinating to locate and arrest the individual in Colorado. We also want to thank all of you for checking in on those around you. Compassion and care for one another are the hallmarks of a true community. Sincerely, Suzanne L. Seplow, Ed.D. Assistant Vice Chancellor, Student Development and Health, Michael (Mick)Deluca Assistant Vice Chancellor for Campus Life
Students on the review site Bruinwalk had described Harris as “unprofessional”
this professor is extremely unprofessional and has sent his personal p*rnographic content to a student. this is his youtube channel: please fire this professor, his actions are not acceptable by any standards
-unidentified UCLA student
Harris allegedly posted videos threatening violence against the school and court documents show he had previously sent messages saying he would “hunt” and kill a professor.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore confirmed Harris was located by the FBI in Colorado.
“The department worked closely with UCLA Police Department and the FBI to quickly identify and locate this individual we believe responsible for those posts and potentially planning for a mass violence or shooting event at UCLA,” said Moore, who added that the agencies were working to determine if the threat is credible.
-Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore
“At this point, we believe the campus is safe,” Moore said.
UCLA on Tuesday also posted a tweet that Harris was in custody.
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern.
