Disgruntled engineer threatens UC Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA — Just days after a deadly shooting at Alabama University, the University of California at Santa Barbara campus became the target of widespread and profound threats of violence emanating from a former UCSB engineer who felt that his future employment potential had been threatened by particular faculty and staff members.

Neil P. Baker, 51, was taken into custody Feb. 23 in Kennewick, Wa. by investigators who had been alerted by campus police and Santa Barbara County sheriff detectives. According to authorities, Baker had previously threatened public safety on the campus and had caused posting of threat bulletins and schoolwide shutdowns.

Calling himself the antichrist, Baker was found in possession of an assault rifle and numerous demolition techniques manuals, and had also recently posted internet messages in which he is quoted as being “so angry that I could have killed them all and burned every building to the ground … it would have taken military air strikes to stop me….”

Baker was charged with making terrorist threats upon his former employer.