UPDATE 5:15pm Police release arrest record of Seevakumaran for a 2006 traffic stop. James Oliver Seevakumaran did not have a valid license and he had attached a tag not assigned to the vehicle. He was arrested without incident and booked into the Seminole County Jail.
UPDATE 4pm: From a UCF press conference we now know more about the UCF student who apparently commited suicide in his dorm room - leaving behind a cache of weapons. He was 31-year-old James Oliver Seevakumaran - a business major - with no record of counseling or student conduct issues.
UCF police chief Richard Beary said the student was planning an attack, had laid out a plan, and apparently looking for targets within the dorm building.
Beary said the suspect pulled a fire alarm to get other students out in the open - but changed his mind when police showed up. Officers arriving found a handgun and rifle in Seevakumaran's room. He was already dead from a self-inficted gunshot. Meanwhile, homemade bombs were also found in a backpack. The weapons were bought in Orlando at a gun shop.
We're told Tower 1 has now reopened. The dorm building was closed to the public while the FBI conducted its investigation.
UPDATE: 1:22pm. UCF reports the homemade bombs and weapons have been removed from the dorm room in Tower 1.
Noon Update: UCF Officials tell us the campus has been reopened though Tower 1 is still evacuated while the FBI continues to assist law enforcement in this investigation. Because of the ammunition and firearms found near the man at the center of this believed suicide, investigators tell us they suspect the man planned to do more harm than kill himself. UCF confirms that the man who was found dead is a UCF student.
11:10am: UCF tells us all explosive devices will be removed from Tower 1 before noon, when campus operations resume. Tower 1 is still a crime scene and will remain evacuated. Campus will resume normal operations at noon. Faculty members have been asked to be understanding of students who may not have class materials due to today’s activities.While Tower 1 remains evacuated, the Veteran’s Academic Resource Center is still open for the building’s residents.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Officials say a man who is believed to be a student was found dead inside a dorm room at the University of Central Florida with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
About 500 students inside Tower 1 were evacuated around 1 a.m. Monday after a fire alarm went off inside the building. Tower 1 is a part of Knights Plaza, which is located near the UCF Arena and the school's football stadium.
UCF police say they received the fire alarm call around 12:20 a.m.
"On the way to respond to that (fire alarm) a 911 call came in about an armed man in the Tower," UCF spokesperson Grant Heston said.
When officers arrived, they found the victim with a fatal and apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Also found on scence were explosive devices, a handgun, and an assault rifle. Tower 1 was evacuated and Parking Garage G was closed.
"We don’t believe there is an active danger to the campus community beyond the areas in which we've shut down here," Heston said.
Classes were cancelled until noon Monday while authorities worked to remove the IEDs and clear the crime scene.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office and FBI are assisting UCF with the investigation.
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