Virginia Tech and Blacksburg Police have made an arrest in a case involving the post of a threatening message on Yik Yak last night.
At approximately 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 29, Kiung Moon, a 21 year old senior majoring in business information technology at Virginia Tech, turned himself in at the Virginia Tech police department and was taken into custody after the investigation identified him as a suspect in this matter.
At this time, Moon has been charged with one count of Harassment by Computer, 18 2-152.7 (1), Class One Misdemeanor.
At approximately 11:15 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, the message “Another 4.16 moment is going to happen tomorrow. Just a warning” was posted to Yik Yak, a social media site. Virginia Tech and the Blacksburg police departments immediately launched a joint investigation into this matter.
The post led to the issuance of a crime alert to the Blacksburg campus community earlier today. The crime alert was issued out of an abundance of caution and because Yik Yak is a public medium. Police did not believe this to be a credible threat and the university did not feel it was necessary to cancel classes.
“This case is another example of how well our two departments work together,” said Virginia Tech Police Chief Kevin Foust. “As always, both departments had the safety and security of the communities of Virginia Tech and Blacksburg fully in mind. Investigators developed the evidence, followed it where it led, and made the arrest.”
“Many people believe social media sites like Yik Yak are 100 percent anonymous,” said Town of Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson. “People need to be aware that if you’re going to engage in this type of behavior, we are going to aggressively investigate. It is also important to keep in mind this threat did not specifically mention Virginia Tech. We share the same concern as the Virginia Tech police that mass violence could occur anywhere in our communities. We owe it to all to work together to solve these incidents.”
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