Florida campus evacuated after police found student dead of ‘self-inflicted’ gunshot wound and explosives

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About 500 students at the University of Central Florida were evacuated overnight Sunday as police found a student dead inside a dormitory, as well as firearms and explosives.

Central Florida News 13 reported on Monday that authorities found the man dead with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head while responding to a fire alarm around 12:20 a.m.

“[I was] Skyping my girlfriend, doing homework,” sophomore Jason Smith, pictured, told WESH-TV. “I figured it was too late to be another drill.”

According to WKMG-TV, officials found a handgun and assault rifle, as well as several homemade explosive devices just before 5 a.m.

Classes have been canceled until noon on Monday. The evacuated students were taken to the school’s Student Union and the on-campus arena has also been made available for anyone displaced by the evacuation. A nearby parking garage was also evacuated, but reopened Monday morning.

The school sent an alert around 2 a.m. saying there were no further threats reported, a delay that drew criticism from some students.

“I would think that they would let us know faster,” said student Nick Erickson. “It was at least two hours because it was at least 2:00 in the morning and this happened at midnight and we didn’t know anything for at least two hours. It’s sad that it was a student but at least there wasn’t high casualties.”

Watch WESH’s report on the evacuation, posted on YouTube on Monday, below.