St. Thomas Student Ray Persaud Arrested, Charged In Bomb Threats
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 20-year-old student has been arrested and charged in connection to the repeated bomb threats at the University of St. Thomas.
The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said Tuesday that Ray Persaud is facing federal charges.
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday, Persaud used a tool that allows users to have multiple phone numbers to call the St. Paul-based university and make the threats.
The hoax calls were made in April, August and September. Each call resulted in the evacuation of buildings on campus.
Authorities linked Persaud to the calls by tracing them back to his home in Blaine.
Julie Sullivan, the president of the University of St. Thomas, said Tuesday that Persaud was a third-year undergraduate student who commuted to campus.
"I am very relieved that a suspect has been identified and arrested and that our community is not in danger from these hoaxes," she wrote in a statement.
Sullivan added that Persaud has been suspended and, in the event he is found guilty, will be immediately expelled from St. Thomas.
Persaud is slated to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Minneapolis.
The case remains under investigation by the FBI and the St. Paul Police Department.