Former Fresno State football player charged with making criminal threat

Prosecutors have charged former Fresno State football player Christian Malik Pryor with a felony charge of making a criminal threat in connection with a social media post that said the sender planned to “release my frustrations” with gunfire on campus.

Pryor, 18 and free on $20,000 bail, will be arraigned Tuesday in Fresno County Superior Court.

If convicted, the felony is punishable by up to three years in prison.

The threat, made anonymously on the messaging app Yik Yak, implied the attack would occur Nov. 2 and sent a wave of fear across the campus as it was reposted on other social media sites. The post included a photo of Henry Madden Library, one of the prominent features in the center of the Fresno State campus.

Pryor was arrested later that day in the Duncan Building in the center of Fresno State’s athletic complex.

University officials said Pryor was a walk-on player who had yet to appear in a game. A wide receiver, he was the team MVP of his Locke High football team in Los Angeles last fall, according to his Fresno State football bio.

University officials have said the online threat was a case of a young man making a bad decision and not an indication of a serious plan.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Former Fresno State football player charged with making criminal threat."