Officials On Alert After Westminster College Student Receives Bizarre Threat
NEW WILMINGTON (KDKA) -- Mugsies Coffee House is a popular place for Westminster College students to study.
That's what several students were doing when police say Thomas Turpie, 69, of Etna, walked in just after 3 p.m. last Tuesday.
"He sat down at the table right next to my two friends," a Westminster student said.
The student KDKA spoke to did not want to be identified. She says the man claimed he was an investigator and was warning students about a group of men living on campus.
"We need to be aware of these men. What they're trying to do is take us down to a pimp house in Pittsburgh where he said they'll rape us and murder us and throw our bodies off the side of the road," the student said.
New Wilmington's Police Chief Carmen Piccirillo sent out an alert to police and colleges across the state about the incident.
"Within minutes after the alert was released, I got a call from Thiel [College] that they had an incident two days after this one," Chief Piccirillo said.
The owner of the coffee shop near the Westminster campus says she stepped in after noticing something was wrong.
"She looked scared as hell. She did. So I waited for him to walk away from her and went up to her and asked what he said to her," owner of Mugsies Coffee House, Michelle Egan, said.
"I asked if he had a badge. He said he did not, but was with the FBI. I said again, 'Sir, do you have a badge?' And he said no. I said, 'I'll call police,'" Egan added.
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Egan snapped pictures of Turpie as he was leaving. She also got pictures of his car which helped police track him down.
"I talk to older men in that coffee shop all the time, ask me about college, my major, just typical conversation. I thought he was one of those men," the student said.
Turpie has been previously interviewed by federal authorities regarding alleged threats towards the president of the United States and other elected officials.