FAYETTE, Mo. (AP) — A 21-year-old central Missouri man has been charged with making a terrorist threat by calling 911 and saying a gunman was on a university campus.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports Brian Baxter of Fayette was arraigned Wednesday in Howard County on the felony count. Prosecutors say Baxter called 911 on April 3 saying an armed man was walking toward a building on the Central Methodist University campus.
The campus was put on lockdown at 11:15 p.m. while law enforcement agencies conducted a building-by-building search.
Police say a cellphone found near campus linked Baxter to the threat after the phone’s owner said he gave the phone to Baxter a few days earlier.
Baxter’s attorney told The Associated Press on Thursday the terrorist charge is way overblown.