Jailed: USF student says he joked about bomb

Tampa, Florida -- Things are back to normal at the University of South Florida today after police received a report of a possible gunman with a bomb on campus around 1:30 p.m. on Monday.

A student arrested during yesterday's campus upset appeared in a Hillsborough County courtroom this morning.

A judge ordered student 23-year-old Vincent Thomas-Perry McCoy held without bond.

Investigators say McCoy stood up on a bus and told fellow students he had a bomb in his backpack.

McCoy has previous legal troubles with upcoming court dates. Past arrests include a drug charge and an arrest for stealing from an elderly person.

To recap yesterday's events:

USF police say it started with a phone call from off campus where someone said there was an armed man outside the school library.

The first text alert Monday went out at 1:49 p.m. warning students and professors about a possible gunman on campus. The alert read, "EMERGENCY: Armed intruder on Campus. Stay inside. Lock doors. Emergency personnel responding."

Meanwhile Lt. Meg Ross with the campus police department says they got a second call that the possible gunman could be on a campus bus.

Dispatchers from the parking and transportation department communicated with their bus drivers and that's when Lt. Ross says McCoy stood up on the bus and stated he was the individual police were searching for.

A student who was on the bus when it happened who didn't want to be identified said, "I knew there was a gunman. I didn't know where he was. I thought he was in the library. I didn't know exactly. I was getting text messages from my roommates."

The student says the bus driver asked them to get down on the floor of the bus where they stayed for about 10 minutes and that's when police surrounded the vehicle and took McCoy into custody.

The Tampa Police Bomb Squad destroyed his backpack. No weapons or explosives were found on McCoy.

Police say there was nothing suspicious in his backpack. "The contents were text books and notebook paper and school supplies."

McCoy was arrested and charged with making a false report concerning the planting of a bomb on state owned property. The charge is a felony. Campus police say there's no word yet on who made those two phone calls to them about the threat.

The all clear was given late Monday afternoon, nearly three hours after police were first notified of the threat.

McCoy's mother meanwhile spoke with 10 Connects News Monday evening and says it's all a misunderstanding. Sonya McCoy says, "He told me that he thought he was joking."

Vincent told his mother that he boarded a campus bus simply to get to class. "He said he was on one bus. He made a mistake and he said he got on another bus." She says she does not believe he stood up on the bus and told passengers that he was the individual police were searching for

Vincent's mother says he's been through a lot emotionally after the loss of his grandmother. Sonya says, "He suffered a major loss and death that he's had a difficult time recuperating from."

His grandmother died on his birthday six years ago in September. Sonya says Vincent is her only son and he was trying to get his life back on track after attending Tuskogee University and Hillsborough Community College.

Sonya adds, "He said to me that it looks like when I try to pray and try to get myself together something happens."

Moments after police arrested McCoy there was another incident on campus. Read below. Lt. Meg Ross says they questioned a man about it and released him.

USF incident: Man wearing cowboy hat carrying puppy and knife