EASTON, Pa. (AP) - Federal authorities say an Alaska man has been charged in a bogus online threat that disrupted exams and a graduation ceremony at an eastern Pennsylvania college earlier this year.
The U.S. attorney’s office announced Wednesday that 30-year-old Gavin Lee Casdorph of Anchorage was charged with “willfully making false threats” on May 5 against Lafayette College.
College officials said someone purporting to be a student with loyalty to the Islamic State threatened an attack with “pipe bombs, pressure cookers and nail bombs.”
Officials said they instituted room-by-room searches, disrupting students studying for exams, and changed exam times and the graduation ceremony location.
Federal authorities allege the defendant was involved in a dispute with fellow players of an online game.
A federal defender representing Casdorph didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.