UConn Bomb Threat Suspect on House Arrest

The 21-year-old Wethersfield resident who is facing state and federal charges in connection with a bomb threat at UConn has been placed on house arrest and is forbidden from using electronic devices, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Matthew Tollis was arrested on federal charges Wednesday and has been involved in at least six "swatting" incidents, including a bomb threat at UConn and other schools in New Jersey, Florida, Texas and Massachusetts, the U.S. Attorney's Office Says.

He appeared in court Friday and was released on $100,000 bond, co-signed by his mother, who has been appointed a third-party custodian.

He is required to remain on home confinement with electric monitoring, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

School officials said classes at UConn will resume this afternoon.

Tollis is not allowed access to phones, computers, gaming devices or other electronics with Internet capabilities. Other devices in the house must remain password protected, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

He must undergo a mental health evaluation and counseling and is not allowed to have contact with other people involved in the incident, including the online community known as "Team Crucifix or Die," (TCOD), of which he was a part.

TCOD is comprised of X-Box gamers who use Skype to call in false bomb threats, hostage situations, gun scares and mass murders, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Tollis was arrested Sept. 3 on state charges in connection with the April 3 bomb threat at UConn, which sparked a “multiple hour, campus-wide lockdown” that drew UConn police, a state police bomb squad and SWAT teams to the scene, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Morning classes were canceled and a Tasker admissions official pulled the fire alarm to evacuate the building, according to court documents.

School officials said the caller claimed someone had planted explosives in the building the night before and wanted to “kill people.” Tollis is not a UConn student and said he believed the school was targeted because of the success of the men and women's basketball teams, which won NCAA championships.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says TCOD members have been found responsible for six additional swatting incidents in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Three of the suspects live in the United Kingdom and have made swatting calls from abroad.

The FBI is working with UK officials to identify those suspects.

Tollis is charged with conspiring to engage in a bomb threat hoax, aiding and abetting a bomb threat hoax and aiding and abetting the malicious conveying of false information regarding an attempt or alleged attempt to kill, injure or intimidate or to unlawfully damage or destroy a building or personal property by means of an explosive.

He could face a total of 15 years in prison if convicted on federal charges.

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