ATHENS, Ga. -- For the second time in five days, there are some fears among the student body at the University of Georgia. On Tuesday, word spread about a bizarre text sent to a female student.
By mid-morning, University of Georgia campus social media sites were lit up with word of an anonymous text sent to a member of a sorority.
UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said the message doesn't rise to the level of an all-out threat, but acknowledged it was "creepy."
11Alive News obtained a screen grab of the text. The anonymous sender writes:
Before you ignore me and tell someone I am messaging you you might want to know I know who you are.
The writer then goes on to list the female student's name, home address and even puts down her license plate number.
Student Cannon Lee said the text was the talk among young women on campus Tuesday, especially on sorority row.
"While you can obtain a lot of that information from the school's app, the fact that the person knew her car plate number worries me," said Lee.
This comes just three days after a threat was posted warning students to stay away from the student center around 12:15 on Friday. That prompted a hasty evacuation of the building.
"My friends were escorted out by a guy in a bullet-proof vest. It was a really tense situation," said student Sally Nicholas.
UGA police quickly identified the author of that post as student Ariel Omar Arias, 19, of Lilburn.
At Arias' bond hearing Monday afternoon, Sgt. Dustin Smith told the courts it does not appear the suspect had any plans to carry out anything violent. Officers searched both his apartment and his car and found nothing suspicious.
Chief Williamson calls it a costly prank. Arias is facing two counts of making terrorist threats. He was given an $8,000 bond and has been banned from the Athens Clarke County area indefinitely.
"You think you're anonymous on these sites and you think its funny, but I'm telling you we are going to identify you and we're going to arrest you," said Williamson.
In the case of Sunday night's text to the female student, Williamson said he has already found who wrote it. He now wants to talk with the person to find out the intent behind it.
Police and campus officials are now trying to alleviate students' and parents' fears, insisting the text and Friday's threat have nothing to do with each other.
"We treat each of these reports seriously, but don't believe anyone is in danger. Students just started hearing bits and pieces of what happened and it created a kind of domino effect of fear," said Williamson.
