During the hearing, Mullen said he had no intention of carrying out the threat and had no possible way to do so. 

Agreement was made for Mullen that he would have not face jail time, no other charges would follow as a result of his plea and he would be responsible for the costs of all police agents responding to his post in the county-wide area, up to $20,000.

Under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, Mullen may receive no criminal record if he undergoes probation successfully, Mullen's lawyer Frank Reynolds said. He said Mullen's plea was entered under advisement with the intention of the judge sentencing under the HYTA petition.

“The charge itself is pretty serious and when you look at the communication that was made and what the response to it was, obviously, people were bothered by that because they were calling the police," Reynolds said. "Unfortunately for him, he is a young kid that did a very stupid thing."

For the spring semester, Mullen resides with his parents in Illinois and is scheduled to begin classes there later this month, according to Reynolds. Mullen is not attending MSU now, but it's unclear whether he could have the opportunity to reenroll. 

"There was an interim suspension and right now the final status and how they’re handling that, I’m not completely sure about. Hopefully, its going to be through a withdrawal," Reynolds said.

Mullen's scheduled arraignment in circuit court will begin on January 28, followed by sentencing on February 25.

Although the social media app Yik Yak is anonymous, police were able to locate Mullen in Akers hall by contacting the app's developer to locate Mullen. Since the threat could be seen by those in the general area, it was unclear what school Mullen was regarding in his post. Several schools in the East Lansing and Lansing area were put on alert after the threat was published.