UH-Downtown student charged after threatening to 'shoot up the school'

Oscar Rincon is in serious trouble. Prosecutors say the 19-year-old student was ticketed while rushing by car to the University of Houston-Downtown, only to find his class had been canceled. 

Angry, Rincon proceeded to lash out online.

"He posted a video on Snapchat of the empty classroom and then made a comment that he was fixing to shoot up the school, UH-Downtown," said Harris County prosecutor Matthew Gilliam.

Not long later, word of that threat was relayed to the FBI. Rincon, who claims he was joking, was very rapidly arrested by HPD and charged with making a terroristic threat.

"My client is presumed innocent and we are going to hold the state to their burden," said Sierra Tabone, Rincon's attorney.

The FBI says Rincon's threat of mass violence was the 10th intercepted in the Houston area over the space of seven days.

"Obviously, with some of the recent shootings in Santa Fe and Parkland and other places we take every one of those threats seriously," said Brian Grehoski, a supervising agent with the FBI.

Word of both the threat and the arrest has leftmany on campus rattled and vigilant.

"It's pretty terrifying. Even if it was a joke, in this climate, it shouldn't be a joke anyone is willing to make,"said Gus Ciotti, A student at UH-Downtown.

"It's not that I don't feel safe, but I have to stay alert at all times," added AliciaIpina, also a student at UH-Downtown.

UH-D Police Chief Michael Benford is responsible for the safety of nearly 15,000 students.

"I think that with the phenomenon of social media, people have become way too desensitized and they will say anything, post anything, not really understanding what the consequences of those words are," said Benford.

Police confiscated a shotgun from Rincon's residence. A judge set his bond at $50,000.