Collegiate Times

“The police continue to work with Virginia State Police investigators and the FBI. The FBI is our liaison with Italian authorities. While we take all threats seriously, these law enforcement authorities do not believe these communications represent a credible threat,” Steger’s e-mail read.

In the March 10 e-mail, Tech police said it is “confident” these postings are from the same user who posted similar threats in late October.

In October, a YouTube account called NextKillerVirgTech showed in its commenting history a series of comments on various videos pertaining to Tech, including footage of Cho.

YouTube has since deleted that account.

However, it appears that the same user is continuing to create fictitious YouTube accounts. The user also continued to send e-mails from fictitious Tech e-mail addresses and AOL accounts.

A person claiming to be this user attempted to contact the Collegiate Times last Thursday morning, March 11.

The sender confirmed in that e-mail that the posts originate from Italy and that “im not sad for my work and insults the vt community.”

The sender stated in the e-mail he made the posts because “im only a sad guy.”

There were no date-specific threats included in that e-mail, which the CT initially turned over to Tech police.

Steger’s e-mail asked students to report threatening e-mail correspondence, social networking postings, and activity on campus to the Tech police.

“There has been and will continue to be enhanced police presence throughout the university,” Steger’s e-mail said. “Because of the elevated concern expressed by the university community,

I believe that an overabundance of caution is appropriate.”

Tech police continue to investigate the situation. Police recommended students to stay away from threatening social networking posts and avoid responding to such threats.

Tech police also recommend against forwarding e-mails containing such threats to friends or colleagues unless the information is factually correct.

Steger’s e-mail encouraged students to contact Tech police if they observe behaviors that cause concern for their safety or that of the community.

“I know that all this can and will be upsetting to our community,” Steger’s e-mail said. “Report your concerns, but don’t be misled by speculative information or rumors.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Mar 18 issue of the Collegiate Times.