River Forest, IL — During this past week, Concordia University, a school normally under the radar, made some big news, but for a reason that left many students in confusion and fear.

Whenever there is a safety issue on the campus, the university notifies the students of the altercation by email or text and reminds them to be aware of the occurrence. On August 27, 2015, students received an email from the Dean of Students that a man had made threats against the university and was being held in custody by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. However, students were not notified about exactly what that threat was.

The same story appeared on local news sites the same day. The Chicago Tribune reported that a man was in custody after making bomb threats against the university. A woman had contacted authorities after the man made these threats over a Facebook message with her in July. The man, James R. Childress, apparently made these threats over anger of not being accepted into the university. The Lake County woman he shared these threats with said she was scared because she could tell he had a thought out plan to “blow up” the university. She was very concerned that he was going to go through with the plan because he had the details all planned out. It was at this time that she decided to go to the authorities with her concern over what Childress told her.

Childress was found at his home in Chicago and taken into police custody. His next scheduled court date is September 3, 2015. Although the school made it through these threats unscathed, the debacle caused quite a scare for students during their first week of the 2015-16 school year. Both local police and campus security have increased security measures to ensure safety for students and faculty.