A Somerset man has been jailed after allegedly making threats toward the University of the Cumberlands.
Police arrested 35-year-old Dustin C. Burchett and charged him with second-degree terroristic threatening after he was accused of calling the university and threatened to “execute a shooting on the campus,” according to the Williamsburg Police Department.
Burchett made the phone call a few minutes after 5:00 Tuesday afternoon. Police from the area converged on the campus after the threat was received.
Law enforcement “quickly identified and tracked” the suspect “to a location in Somerset,” police said, where he was arrested by Kentucky State Police and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office. He was initially lodged in the Pulaski County Detention Center but has since been transferred to the Whitley County Detention Center.
Second-degree terroristic threatening is a class D felony, punishable by one to five years in prison. But, if the accused “intentionally engages in substantial conduct required to prepare for or carry out the threatened act, including but not limited to gathering weapons, ammunition, body armor, vehicles, or materials required to manufacture a weapon of mass destruction” the charge is a class C felony, punishable by five to 10 years in prison, according to Kentucky Revised Statutes.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
