Update: Police Say UCF Student Was Planning Campus Attack
Monday, March 18, 2013
By: Matthew Peddie

March 18, 2013 | WMFE- The University of Central Florida in Orlando has reopened including tower one- the residence hall which was evacuated after police found the body of a student and a bag of improvised explosive devices early Monday morning.

[Image: James Seevakumaran]

At a press conference Monday afternoon University officials revealed the student - identified as 30 year old James Oliver Seevakumaran- was planning an attack on the campus.

Police were responding to a fire alarm not long after midnight when one of Seevakumaran’s roommates called 911 to report a weapon had been pointed at him.

UCF Police chief Richard Beary said officers rescued the room mate, then discovered Seevakumaran dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

They also found a handgun, a tactical rifle, a couple hundred rounds of ammunition and a backpack with four improvised explosive devices.

“We found some notes and some writings that indicated this was a planned attack. This individual had laid out a timeline," said Beary.

"It could have been a bad day for everybody here," he said.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms are helping local law enforcement with the investigation.

Officials say Seevakumaran had been a business major through fall last year, but he had not paid for this semester and was in the process of being removed from his dorm in tower one.

Seevakumaran is from Lake Mary, and was a graduate of Seminole High School. He was never seen by UCF Counseling and Psychological Services and had no student conduct record.

From initial investigations it appears he was acting alone in his plans to attack the campus.

University Counselling and Psychological Services were offering counseling and support for students at UCF.

University police were responding to a fire alarm at 12.20 am monday at tower one - a residence hall with about 500 students - when they received a 911 call about a man with a gun.

University vice president of communications  and public affairs Grant Heston said in one of the dorm rooms police found the body of a person- apparently dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound. Heston says the victim was a student at UCF.

“Further investigation of the dorm room discovered an assault weapon, and a bag that had improvised explosive devices in it," said Heston.

"At that time a decision was made to close that particular tower, close the garage adjacent to it, and to cancel classes through noon today.”

Heston says the tower was evacuated immediately after the shooting. University police are working with the FBI and Orange County sheriffs officers to make sure the campus is safe.

The sheriff's office bomb squad is examining the improvised explosive devices found in the dorm room.