Gunman Who Threatened University of Wisconsin Captured in California

MADISON, Wis. – The escaped inmate accused of threatening the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus was captured early Friday in California, police said.

Jesse Miller, 19, was taken into custody by San Diego Police on a probation violation, according to UW-Madison police.

Police say Miller called authorities Tuesday afternoon claiming he was on top of a parking ramp at the university hospital, had a weapon and wanted to be killed by officers. They say he followed that up with a false report of shots fired in the area and a fake bomb threat.

The calls were enough for the university to cancel some night classes and to warn students to stay home. In a press release, campus police said they quickly developed leads on Tuesday that Miller may have been in the San Diego area but they also had conflicting information that he may have been in Madison.

Thursday night, Miller made another phone call to UW-Madison police, who then worked with San Diego police to find him, according to the release. His identity was verified by fingerprints.

Miller was serving a one-year jail sentence with work-release privileges in Madison after pleading no contest to armed robbery with use of force. He vanished Sept. 8 after leaving the jail for a medical appointment and never returning.

UW-Madison Police Sgt. Jason Whitney said it's possible that Miller was in San Diego — more than 2,000 miles from Madison — during the entire episode. He said the arrest was a relief to his department and the school's 60,000 students and employees, and that Miller would face additional charges for making the threats.