Student suspected in online threat

A Loyola Marymount University senior was arrested Saturday night near his apartment on the campus on suspicion of making an online threat to shoot as many people as possible on campus before being incapacitated or killed by police, authorities said.

Carlos Huerta was linked to the threat that was posted on the website Juicycampus.com, an anonymous blog primarily used by college students, according to a statement released by the L.A. Police Department.

Working with the university’s Department of Public Safety, LAPD major crimes investigators and officers from the Computer Crimes Unit traced the threat to the suspect’s computer.

“There was never an indication the threat made was a valid one, and there is no ongoing threat to LMU,” said Deputy Chief Michael Downing, head of the LAPD Counter-terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau.

Huerta was expected to be charged this week, according to LAPD spokeswoman Norma Eisenman.

In a similar incident, Australian law enforcement officials Friday arrested a Melbourne man, Jarrad Willis, 20, on suspicion of making online threats against the Grove shopping center in Los Angeles.

The arrest was based on information provided by the LAPD.

“As was the case involving LMU, there was never any real threat to the Grove,” Downing said.

-- K. Connie Kang