Some Students Avoid University of Missouri Campus After Threats
Even a nearby Starbucks closed for the day.
— -- Some students have been staying home from class and some local workers were scared of being near the University of Missouri campus today after threats on social media were reported.
A suspect was arrested this morning near a different state university campus about 90 miles away for allegedly posting terroristic threats, but that didn't stop students and teachers from cancelling class out of fear today.
The university was officially open today, a school spokeswoman told ABC News, but teachers could cancel class at their own discretion. That was the case for junior Marche Hill, who had two of her three classes cancelled and the third professor made today's class optional.
"I only have one friend who went to campus because she had an exam," Hill said.
"It's really shaky around here... We all don't know if we should go to campus or if we should not," she said. "Some of us want to go and not be afraid and let our presence known but we're also afraid."
Justin Moore, a sophomore, did go to one of his classes in the afternoon but not his morning classes.
"You wanna make sure that you're in a safe environment," Moore said.
The mood on campus is "pretty tense" and between the demonstrations and walkout earlier in the week as well as the subsequent threats, the week has been "really stressful," he said.
"You're just looking at everybody, you're just making sure that nobody's armed, or looking at you funny, or you know, just, I guess trying to keep your head on a swivel," Moore told ABC News.
Administrators are trying to actively address the tensions, with Dr. David Wallis, the school's director of counseling, saying that they were aware that many students may be too afraid to go into their center on campus for help so staff members were meeting with groups of students where they had gathered and are available for sessions by phone.
"We're doing everything that we can," Wallis told ABC News this morning. "Right now we're not getting a lot of influx because students are staying away from campus today so we're reaching out."
A Starbucks location near campus was closed throughout the day and had a sign posted on the door. The school's student newspaper, The Missourian, reported that another restaurant called Campus Bar & Grill had a sign posted on its door noting that it would be closed today and may remain closed Thursday.
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