(KSDK) - A Belleville man, Steven Ellis, 21, is charged with falsely making a terroristic threat, on the Belleville campus of Southwestern Illinois College.
St. Clair County Sheriff's Department investigators say Friday, while in a cafeteria on campus, Ellis tried to recruit another student to take part in the attack.
"He had been talking to another individual in the cafeteria and the threat that he made was that a similar event to what occurred at Northern Illinois University was going to occur at SWIC," Captain Steve Johnson said. "This was not two individuals making jokes in a cafeteria. This was one individual talking very specifically about a plan to hurt people at a college."
Johnson said the other student wanted no part of the plan and contacted SWIC Public Safety officials, who called the police.
"Immediately, the college wanted everybody to know that this occurred, and immediate action was taken," Johnson said. "We do want everybody to know that it's not a game anymore. You got to really watch what you say."
Ellis is in jail, with bond set at $100,000. Law enforcement officials say Ellis has been barred from the campuses of Southwestern Illinois Colleges. Johnson says Ellis' family is devastated by what happened. A woman who answered the telephone at Ellis' home, Saturday night, declined to be interviewed by a reporter.
KSDK