All eyes were on the University of Central Florida on Monday, and UF was no exception.
UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said UF has been paying close attention to the events that took place at UCF, which included shutting down the campus and a suicide.
“It’s something that any Florida university could face,” she said. “Our sympathy goes out to their campus.”
UCF’s main campus was shut down until noon Monday, after a dorm was evacuated, explosive devices were found and a former student died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Thirty-year-old James Oliver Seevakumaran was found in the Tower 1 residence hall, dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Upon investigation, police found a suspicious device inside the building and an assault weapon, handgun and explosive devices in a bag in his room.
A UCF alert stated that police received a fire alarm call at about 12:20 a.m. While responding, they received another call about a man with a gun. When police arrived, they found the victim. Tower 1 was evacuated.
The residence hall, which houses about 500 students, was evacuated immediately. A bomb squad was called at about 5 a.m.
Jordon Halleck, a 20-year-old UCF psychology sophomore, was out of his Tower 1 residence hall room when it was evacuated. It wasn’t until his friend went to drop him off that he began to realize something unusual was happening. He said he knew it was more than just a fire drill when he saw police officers with assault rifles.
At the time of interview, Halleck said students from his residence hall were still displaced and did not know when they would be allowed back in, despite reports that the building had been cleared.
He said the situation has been surreal and is unusual for UCF. He said he is mostly just relieved things weren’t worse.
“The important part was that everyone was safe and the explosives were removed,” Halleck said.
According to a Spring 2012 report by the American College Health Association, about 5 percent of college students indicated within the last 12 months that they considered suicide, and about 0.8 percent indicated they had attempted suicide in the last 12 months.
Meggen Sixbey, assistant coordinator of emergency and crisis response services at UF’s Counseling and Wellness Center, said feelings of anger and depression are often temporary, and if students are feeling like they want to harm themselves or others, they should speak to someone.
“Talk to a family member, friend or trusted other and work out their concerns before you take any harmful action,” Sixbey said.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of harming themselves or others, contact the Counseling and Wellness Center at 352-392-1575.
