Student From Thousand Oaks Faces Terrorizing Charge Following Campus Lockdown In N.D.
THOUSAND OAKS (AP) — Authorities have filed a terrorizing charge against a Southland student who allegedly made threats that led to the brief lockdown of a college campus in North Dakota.
Robert Flores, 18, of Thousand Oaks, allegedly threatened to kill three students and drink their blood as part of a satanic ritual. The alleged threats led to a half-hour lockdown of the University of Jamestown campus Nov. 7 while authorities searched for the student. University officials alerted other students through automated text messages and emails.
"We definitely did not at any time take the threats lightly," Tena Lawrence, the university's vice president of marketing, told the Jamestown Sun early this week. "We took the information we were given very seriously."
Flores was charged Wednesday after being evaluated at the state mental hospital. He made his initial court appearance Thursday on the felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Court documents do not list an attorney for him.
Flores' father, Ronald Flores, told the Sun earlier that his son was just joking around.
"They don't understand," he said. "We just kid around. It's like a punk thing. It's like a Goth thing. It's just a thing in Los Angeles."
Ronald Flores said his son came to the university to wrestle, but has since been expelled. The school won't confirm that, citing privacy rules.
"It's just a big misunderstanding," Ronald Flores said. "It's all out of control, and now we just have to wait . It feels like a whole little nightmare."
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