A Harvard University student was due in court Wednesday after prosecutors said he made bomb threats to try to get out of a final exam.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Boston filed a criminal complaint Tuesday against Eldo Kim, 20, alleging he sent hoax emails saying shrapnel bombs would go off soon in two of four buildings on the Cambridge, Mass., campus. The emails came minutes before he was to take a final exam in one of the buildings
The threats led to the buildings’ evacuation Monday, shutting them down for hours before investigators determined there were no explosives.
Harvard said it was saddened by the allegations but would have no further comment on the investigation.
Kim attended high school in Mukilteo, Wash. A cached version of his LinkedIn profile, which has been taken down, indicates that he did several internships in South Korea. It was unclear whether he has an attorney.
According to the complaint, Kim sent emails to Harvard police, two university officials and the president of the Harvard Crimson newspaper, saying bombs had been placed around campus.
An FBI affidavit says Harvard determined Kim had accessed TOR, a free Internet product that assigns a temporary anonymous Internet protocol address, using the university’s wireless network.
The affidavit says Kim told an agent Monday night that he had acted alone and sent the messages to five or six Harvard email addresses he picked at random.
He said he sent them about half an hour before he was scheduled to take a final in Emerson Hall, one of the buildings threatened, the affidavit says. He said he was in Emerson at 9 a.m. when a fire alarm sounded and he knew his plan had worked.
The maximum penalties for a bomb hoax are five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.