ORWIGSBURG — Authorities are looking for a white borough man who did not appear Monday for his preliminary hearing on charges he threatened to kill three black students in March at Penn State Schuylkill.
Devin W. Murphy, 23, of 760 S. Liberty St., faces three counts of terroristic threats and one of disorderly conduct.
After the hearing, Magisterial District Judge James R. Ferrier ordered all charges held for court against Murphy. Ferrier also asked the court to issue a bench warrant for Murphy, who had been free on $5,000 unsecured bail.
Penn State Schuylkill police alleged Murphy posted the threat to kill the three students, whom they did not identify, on Facebook about 8:30 p.m. March 6.
Police said Murphy threatened to take a gun to the campus in North Manheim Township, just outside Schuylkill Haven, on March 7 and kill the three, whom he did not name but about whom he used a racially offensive term. A parent alerted a Penn State Schuylkill official to the post, according to police.
Faculty and students received warnings about the threat by a mass email post and postings around campus, according to police. Also, an additional police officer was placed on duty March 7 at the campus.
Facebook verified through its business records that the threatening post was made with Murphy’s email, police said.
The Facebook post was made using the name Luk Looch, according to police. However, police said they examined Looch’s Facebook profile page and photographs and concluded Murphy used that name.