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Feds investigating case of body, bag of bombs found at Florida college

Posted at 1:30 PM, Mar 18, 2013
and last updated 2013-03-18 13:30:18-04

ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) — Police at the University of Central Florida on Monday are investigating the death of a male student, his body found with guns and a bag of bombs.

Classes were canceled briefly Monday at the Orlando school as local law enforcement, the FBI and other federal agents tried to figure out what led the student to apparently shoot himself.

It all started around 12:20 a.m., when a fire alarm went off at a dorm, police said. Someone called 911 describing a person with a gun in the building, school spokesman Grant Heston said. Officers arrived and found the body in a bedroom.

The dorm, home to about 500 students, was evacuated.

The dead student shared the dorm room with three roommates, the university said. It’s unknown where they were at the time of the shooting.

A handgun, an assault weapon and a bag of improvised explosive devices were found in the room, Heston said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s bomb squad was on campus Monday examining the explosive devices, which have been made safe.

As the investigation gets under way, there are a lot of questions: Was there a connection between the student and the 911 caller? Who was the 911 caller? Where did the guns come from?

“(We’re) trying to understand why he had the weapons he had,” UCF Police Chief Richard Beary said.

Weapons are not allowed on campus, Heston said.

The university said it was providing the evacuated students counseling and food at its Veterans Academic Resource Center.

The parking garage closest to the dorm was initially closed off, but the university reopened it around 9 a.m.

UCF has more than 59,000 students at its main campus and 10 regional campuses.

CNN’s Marlena Baldacci contributed to this report.