UCF MAIN CAMPUS — Orange County Sheriff’s Office and FBI are investigating the suicide of James Oliver Seevakumaran who was found dead Monday morning in his room, 308, located in Tower I.
Investigators found two weapons, a .45-caliber handgun and a .22-caliber tactical riffle as well as improvised explosive devises (IED).
Near 500 students were evacuated from the dorm rooms and parking garage after university police responded to a fire alarm and later a 911 call about a man with a gun at approximately 12:20 a.m.
“The alarm woke me up. I left most of my things in the room because I figured it was some student that had pulled the alarm in some drunk accident,” said UCF student Dale Holasek. “After making my way to the ‘All Knight Study’ I waited with the ever growing group of students.
“We waited for a couple of minutes, then a cop took out his gun and started shouting about moving back across the street and even towards the union. That is the moment I realized this was probably no longer a drill.”
All classes scheduled at UCF’s Main Campus were cancelled until noon and a Sheriff’s office bomb squad examined the explosives Monday morning.
The incident did not affected classes at any other UCF campuses or facilities.
“Times like today challenge us individually, as an organization and as a university community,” said UCF President John C. Hitt. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our UCF community.”
Investigators have written prove Seevakumaran was trying to follow a “planned attack” which included both weapons as well as IEDs.
In a press conference Associate Vice President for communications and public affairs, Grant Heston, said Seevakumaran was a business major who had been actively enrolled at UCF between the fall of 2010 and the fall of 2012.
Seevakumaran was not enrolled in any spring semester classes and was in the process of been taken out of student housing, a process that according to Heston takes an extended period of time.
“Generally when we have students that don’t pay, or are not enrolled, that live on campus we try to take a compassionate approach and not kick them out day one,” said Heston. “That is something that we are addressing.”
As of now there is one other student who is not actively enrolled but still lives in student housing.
“We commend the rapid response of the University Police Department to this incident,” said Zachary Zalneraitis, Florida State Director for Students for Concealed Carry, on the organization’s website. “However, this only further illustrates the point that campus gun bans do not keep criminals from bringing firearms onto campuses illegally. They merely disarm lawfully armed adults who wish to protect themselves on a daily basis.”
The SCC is a national organization which advocates for legal concealed carry on college campuses in the United States as an effective means of self-defense. Currently state law does not allow guns to be carried on school campuses.
“I’m opposed,” said Hitt in reference to the movement. “It was a terrible thing to have someone with two weapons, the thought of having many students with weapons in a situation like this its absolutely terrifying. I think it’s a prescription for disaster.”
Displaced students were taken to the student union building immediately following the incident then later transported to the UCF Arena.
“I slept in the Arena for a couple hours, then went and got a free breakfast. Then hung out a little more and got a free lunch,” said UCF student Josh Conradi. “I got a shirt and got to brush my teeth.”
Heston announced at the afternoon press conference that Tower I is now open for students.
