Penn State Roommates Accused of Making Social Media Threat to Disrupt Final Exam

Two Penn State students are facing charges for what police say was a false threat intended to disrupt a final exam in December at a University Park classroom building.

Madeline C. Steczkowski, 18, of Connecticut, is accused of using the location-based social media app Yik Yak on Dec. 16 to claim there was a bomb in the Forum Building and threaten to “shoot this place up” after her roommate Carolyn E. Kahn, 18, of South Carolina, complained about an exam she had scheduled there.

Penn State, State College and Ferguson Township police departments and the FBI responded “to identify the threat actor and assure the safety of the campus community,” after learning of the post, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed on Thursday by university police.

Records obtained from Yik Yak led to the identification of Steczkowski as the user who made the post, and she was located by police on campus that morning, according to the affidavit.

In an interview with police, Steczkowski said she and Kahn has been complaining about finals and discussed sending a threat, according to the affidavit. She allegedly admitted to making the post in order to disrupt her roommate’s exam and said that Kahn was to pay her $10 for doing so.

Steczkowski was “emotional and apologetic,” and though a mass shooting had occurred at Brown University three days earlier, she said she did not think her post would be taken seriously, police wrote. She also said she did not expect the post would be traced back to her, according to the affidavit.

Kahn said in an interview with police that she told Steczkowski “it was a bad idea and someone would take it seriously,” according to the affidavit.

Neither woman owns firearms nor researched bomb-making, police wrote.

Steczkowski and Kahn are each charged with four misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats. Steczkowski is also charged with three misdemeanor counts of false bomb threats.

Both were charged via summons on Thursday. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Feb. 18.