A 22-year old woman called in bomb threats to Quinnipiac University during Sunday's graduation ceremony to hide her dropout status from her family.
Danielle Shea did not attend classes this school year, and was not scheduled to graduate, but did not tell her family. She panicked when they came to the graduation ceremony and did not see her name in the commencement program.
Shea called the Connecticut University's Public Safety department at 5:38 p.m. and reported a bomb in the library. School officials searched the library and found no explosives. At 5:55 p.m., Shea called back and told authorities, "several bombs are on campus. You haven't cleared out graduation. That's not a good idea."
Following the report, the College of Arts and Sciences graduation ceremony was moved indoors to the TD Bank Sports Arena on the University's York Hill campus. Commencement was delayed by an hour and a half.
The calls were traced to Shea's phone, and she was discovered in the arena wearing a cap and gown. She gave Hamden police a detailed confession, and admitted that she was embarrassed about not graduating.
According to NBC Connecticut, Shea maintained that she had no intention of harming anyone, and was not in possession of any bombs or other weapons.
The Quincy, Massachusetts native accepted thousands of dollars of her mother's money this year under the guise of paying for school expenses.
Shea was arraigned in Meriden Superior Court today, and given a $20,000 bond. Her attorney asked for her to be released until the time of trial, but that request was denied. The judge told Shea that he was disturbed by her actions, and that she made a "big mistake."
She has been charged with first-degree threatening and reporting a false incident. Prior to these events, Shea had no criminal history.
