One arrest after USF lockdown

A University of South Florida student was arrested Monday after a security scare on campus.

USF Police received a call at around 1:30 p.m. reporting a man with a gun and a bomb near the library. The campus was put on lockdown and students were warned of the potential danger.

The scare was a nerve-racking situation students, especially new ones.

"I had no idea. This is my first year on campus. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what the siren was for," said Lauren Neita, a second-year transfer student.

"It did originate at the library and we continued to check that area, but we did not find anyone in that area matching the description," USF Police Lt. Meg Ross told FOX 13.

Second scene unfolds

Soon after, police received another troubling call. This one, from the university's transportation center. "The caller said that a person on the bus stood up and said 'I'm the person you're looking for at the library.'" Ross said.

Students and others getting on and off buses became of grave concern, with the possibility of a gunman and a bomb so close. "I was about to get off my bus stop and I see a lot of cop cars rushing and I hear sirens," Freshman Thalissa Louis recounted to FOX 13.

Campus police told Louis and other bus passengers to stay put and get down. Elizabeth Manfredo was about to change buses to meet her husband, who works on campus. She says the passengers on her bus were quite nervous.

"Scared. Scared, but calm. We all got down on the floor and we were told to go to the back and get down, which we did," Manfredo said.

Neita said she called her parents while she sat on the floor of the bus. She said she sat there for about 20 minutes, until police told her and other passengers they were free to go.

Campus Police took a USF student into custody. They say 23-year-old Vincent Thomas-Perry McCoy told them he had a bomb.

His threat was taken seriously. The Tampa Police Regional Bomb Team arrived with its robot to investigate exactly what was in McCoy's backpack.

They found text books, notebook, and school supplies... no bomb. Police say he did not have any weapons. Still, McCoy is in a lot of trouble. He's charged with false reporting of planting a bomb on state property, a felony.

McCoy was taken to the Hillsborough County Jail where was being held on $7,500 bond, jail records show.

It's unclear what if any connection McCoy has to the report of the gunman on campus.

Students get several warning texts

For two hours students and staff at USF waited outside the library while the school was in lockdown.

Many had been inside studying when the alarms went off.

"Then there was cops coming onto our floor with big machine guns and they're like, everyone with their hands up now," according to Randi Railsback, a senior at USF.

Many students across campus got word of what was happening on their cell phones through the USF "Mo-bull alert system". The system was implemented in 2007 after the massacre at Virginia Tech and meant to keep students aware of potentially dangerous situations on campus.

But the first text about the possibility of an armed man near the library was just the first of a handful of messages sent out Monday.

"White male subject seen in Cooper Hall area in black tank top, cowboy hat carrying black puppy and large hunting knife," read Kristina Zvaritch from the' Mo-Bull Alert' on her cell phone.

"I thought it was some 'frat' boy prank a guy with a cowboy hat and a hunting knife and a black puppy dog?" said USF graduate student Ed Dimarco.

At least four messages went out to students about different possibly dangerous situations Monday afternoon. For students outside the library, there was a lot of confusion about what was real and what might turn out to be nothing.

"So, yeah it kind of be comes a little out of control and you don't know who is telling you what or where they're getting their information from," explains Jonathan Harrell, a student at USF.

Since June, this is the third time the campus has used the alert system to warn of possible danger. In one case, a cell phone mistaken for a gun prompted a lockdown. In another case, a distraught man threatening violence caused a separate lockdown.

No one was hurt in any of these situations. Students who have been here for at least a year are admittedly and unfortunately getting used to this.

"People are taking it lighter but, I think until we see dead bodies, until we see somebody hurt, we're not going to freak out," admits USF student Kristina Zvaritch.