1 In Custody At USF After Report Of Person With Bomb, Gun

TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida was locked down for a time Monday after someone reported a man with a gun and a bomb near the library, and police had one person in custody.

No one reported shots being fired or injuries. Students were told to return to their normal routine about three hours later.

Vincent Thomas-Perry McCoy, 23, a USF student, was arrested and charged with making a false report. The Tampa Police Department's bomb squad examined his backpack and determined it was safe, police said. He had no weapons on him and was cooperative, USF Police Lt. Meg Ross said.

McCoy was being held on $7,500 bond. He did not yet have an attorney.

A second person who was reportedly carrying a knife on campus was detained, but police said they believe it was unrelated.

The first call came in at 1:36 p.m. to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, which transferred it to campus police.

A siren interrupted classes. An announcement over a loud speaker said there was an intruder and students should stay inside and lock their doors, said Amanda Barnes, an 18-year-old international studies major.

Administrators also sent several text messages to students.

Story continues below

advertisement

"A lot of people were like, 'OK. I'm going to go up to my room, and no big deal,'" Barnes told The Associated Press. "A couple of people were like, 'Oh my God. I'm so scared.'"

Student Hannah Quill told the St. Petersburg Times what she saw and heard.

"It sounded like one of those tornado alarms up north," she said. "Everyone is like in classrooms on lockdown. I saw quite a few police cars heading towards the front of campus."

At about 3:30 p.m., police also reported a man wearing a black tank top and cowboy hat, carrying a black puppy and a large hunting knife on campus.

Ross said the man was being questioned, but it didn't seem related to the earlier report of a man carrying a gun and a bomb.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Schneider in Orlando and Tamara Lush in Miami contributed to this report.

Comments

[lisalovesamelie]

Florida Tag!!!

[satanlite]

I grew up with guns. I"m well versed with many firearms. I've been around "gun culture" people for the majority of my younger life (until I got old enough to gtf away from them permanently). I"ve learned a couple of things about gun owners.

They come in 3 types.

The safe type who never talks about his gun and rarely shows it - you could know this person your whole life and NEVER see the gun or hear them talk about.

Then we have the opposite extreme - the gun nut. Yup, they are out there and rare.

In the middle are a mass of people like glocky who feel a need to display and talk about t heir weapons. It's more than just a weapon to these people. They are mentally ill and waiting for a something to happen. Then families dissolve. Lives are ruined. You can easily guess the rest.

Have a happy life glocky.

[OdinsEye]

Oh brother *eyeroll*

[Mohd Ashaari]

*photo the gunman

http://news.limauais.com/university-of-south-florida-usf-gunman-news/

[Mohd Ashaari]

i read another nice story here

http://news.limauais.com/university-of-south-florida-usf-gunman-news/

[BEARvsSHARK]

I woke up to a text message from USF which made me aware of the incident. My first thought was is my girlfriend on campus? She wasn't, which was good.

My classes were canceled today already so I was asleep. From my apartment I could hear the emergency broadcasts on campus saying to go inside and lock your doors.

Sucks to have idiots on campus with guns.

[glockman]

I was on campus with a gun two days a week when I was earning my Master's at USF. I never harmed anyone.

[BEARvsSHARK]

your point?

[etiennemacchias]

I hope the Supreme Court makes a keen decision on the issue of gun control with McDonald v. Chicago.

And what was that kid doing with a puppy?

[satanlite]

And more importantly - was the puppy loaded?

[pajoly]

My fiance was on campus (an adult student back in school) when this went down. She said "lockdown" really meant nothing, as students and anyone were still being permitted to go freely in and out of buildings. The whole deal was approached by students largely with a "whatever" type attitude. Some will never take something seriously until it affects them in the most direct of ways. And in this "ME!" culture, that's partly why folks won't work to affect change unless or until it hits us all like a blunt instrument.

[janarchy]

I'm a graduate student at USF and I was also on campus for this entire incident, which lasted from 1:30 to 4:20. It's true, most students were just milling around in the buildings, but much fewer people were outside than normal. Other than staying inside as they were instructed to do, I'm not sure what else you expect the students to do.

I'd also like to point our that this was our 3rd "gunman on campus" incident in a of couple months, and nothing ever came of the other two incidents. It's hard to keep people alert and expect them to react when they believe, based on past experiences, that the incident will amount to another false alarm.

[satanlite]

I live in the area too and notice this area has a lot of right wingers with Beck-like minds who spend their days in fear. They've got guns. They want to use them on the enemy. I'm afraid that, to some of them, the "enemy" is us.

[Sons]

We allow anyone to have a gun - mentally ill - no problem - then go bonkers when a "gunman" appears somewhere.

The miracle is there aren't more killings with guns.

Hand guns are for one purpose - killing other human beings.

Outlaw guns now like all other civilized countries.

[glockman]

Actually, handguns are defensive weapons, best used to fight your way to a shoulder fired weapon.

[RealPlumber]

Glock, a good women's gun.

[InYourWorld]

No hand guns are used for defending oneself from humans. I have a hand gun, for protection. I would suggest that once a gun is pressed to your stomach during a mugging you would change your ideas about guns.

[OdinsEye]

Handguns are for:

1) Defense
2) Recreation
3) Competition
4) Hunting

[OdinsEye]

BTW, ever see a Hammerli 160/162 handgun?

[davidhilton1]

what next?