Violent Threats Sent to Hundreds of New York College Students

It's been quite a scary day at campuses around the United States, as several hundred colleges and universities began reporting threats of violence being emailed to campus community members during the early part of the day on Wednesday, March 13th.

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Hundreds of Colleges Receive Similar Email Threat

As of now, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for the schools that were targeted with the threats, as reports indicate more than 300 schools received similar messaging via email.

Valley City University in North Dakota, Clemson University in South Carolina, Asbury University in Kentucky, and here in the Hudson Valley, SUNY New Paltz, are just a sampling of the universities that have reported suspicious email activity threatening violence on the same day.

At 10:05 am on Wednesday, March 13th, members of the SUNY New Paltz community received a message from the school's text alert system notifying recipients that they were aware of a 'suspicious email from an unknown individual.'

The message went on to indicate that University Police were working with state and federal authorities to investigate.

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Similarly, in South Carolina, officials at Clemson University issued a statement that the Clemson University Public Safety Department (CUPD) was made aware of an email that 'referenced possible explosives Wednesday morning.'

FOX News Carolina indicated that CUPD 'reached out to the State Law Enforcement Division's Fusion Center who said approximately 225 other institutions have received the same or similar email over several months.'

SEE ALSO: Man Threatening Motorists at Wappingers Traffic Lights

Investigations Continue At College Campuses After Threats

Locally, just before 3 pm on Wednesday, SUNY New Paltz students and staff received an update from the university saying that NYSIC, the New York State Intelligence Center had confirmed the email message to be a 'swatting bomb threat' that was sent to more than 300 colleges and universities.

NYSIC currently has no information suggesting these are credible threats.

This story is still developing and will be updated with additional details when it becomes available.