So the Pitt bomb threat story has gone national, as most of us know by now. It is sorta funny to see the national news report on a story that's weeks old, reaching critical levels days ago.
We're approaching the longest period of ENS silence since the threats began escalating. I didn't want to post too much information and provoke any copy-catting, but the AP is reporting there is a person of interest.
Although this sounds promising, an expert told the Trib e-mail tracing has been a "dead end."
But. A rumor was circulating the suspect who wrote the threat at Starbucks was caught. Was it the same guy? We'll see how this shakes out. I don't want to turn this into a gossip source, but I thought that one was at least worth mentioning.
Also, there was a bizarre, barely coherent rant about the Chancellor posted and then taken down. I don't need to post the site, you can look it up if you want. The author seems like a pretty disturbed individual and, again, I don't want to engage or talk too much about it, at least in my primary posts. There's other disturbed individuals out there, no names mentioned, who should also be left for the police to investigate.
A group formed on reddit has been doing the same thing as this blog, making efforts to try to smoke the suspect out. I know people have ideas about setting meetings or traps or tracking the guy down, but I don't want to encourage that. While he almost certainly is a prankster, I'm not so sure I'd be willing to risk angering him or backing him into a corner. People with nothing to lose can be pretty dangerous. This forum isn't meant for investigative vigilantism, but for raising awareness and empowering the public.
A great write-up was done in TIME's newsfeed outlining the role of social media. From the comments by the vice-chancellor, he seems comfortable with it, but cautious about its effects on the overall investigation (which is exactly where I stand as well).
Lots of information and rumors circulating. I am still planning to move this over to a different platform by week's end. Hopefully I won't have to. My fingers are crossed way too hard right now.
I'll keep everyone posted as best as I can. Information is coming in pretty rapidly right now, so something big could break any minute.
