ORLANDO, Fla. -- Students are now allowed back in their dorm rooms at the University of Central Florida after police say a plot to massacre students at a residence hall was thwarted.
According to campus police, James Seevakumaran, 30, planned to kill fellow students with whom he lived inside the Tower 1 residence hall on the Orlando campus.
On Monday, police recovered an assault rifle, a handgun, hundreds of rounds of ammo and four homemade explosive devices in Seevakumaran's third-floor dorm room along with notes detailing plans to harm the greatest number of people.
Colby Johnson, a sophomore from Jacksonville, told Action News he was right across the hall from Seevakumaran's room shortly after midnight Sunday morning. Police say that's when Seevakumaran began executing his plot.
"His detailed plan mentioned hitting everyone he could on their way out of the fire alarm, so that was a little bit tough to read," said Johnson.
Campus police say they believe Seevakumaran pulled the fire alarm just after midnight to attract a crowd of students, then returned to his room to retrieve the weapons.
But his roommate called 911 and reported a man with a gun. Police responded and found Seevakumaran dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
UCF Police Chief Richard Beary said, "What we think is his timeline got off, the rapid response of law enforcement may have changed his ability to think quickly on his feet."
