Man Charged With Threatening Violence On UC Riverside Campus

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A 24-year-old man accused of threatening to carry out a shooting at UC Riverside was charged Tuesday with making terrorist threats.

Matthew Jeremiah Woolridge of Riverside was arrested in the predawn hours last Friday following an investigation by UCR police, who allege he made the threat via Snapchat on Thursday night. The posting read, "I'm shooting up UC Riverside tomorrow. 1st Black school shooter going down in History."

Investigators used the social media post to identify and locate the defendant, who was taken into custody without incident about 2 a.m. at a residence on Newell Drive, which is less than a mile east of the main campus.

It was unclear what might have prompted the defendant, who is not a student at the university, to allegedly make the threat.

No classes were postponed or canceled as a result, according to UCR.

Wooldridge was booked on suspicion of making threats and authorities later added misdemeanor allegations, including presenting false identification to a peace officer. But the Riverside County District Attorney's Office charged him with only the single felony count.

The defendant, who has no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County, is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning and is slated to make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

— By City News Service