University of Connecticut police have arrested a man in connection with Internet threats warning people not to cooperate with the authorities in the days following the death of UConn student Jasper Howard.

Christopher J. Mutchler, 18, of Wethersfield, was arrested Oct. 29 and charged with hindering prosecution, interfering with an officer, threatening and other charges, UConn police said in a news release. Hindering prosecution is a felony.

University police were advised of two separate Internet postings that were threatening in nature and appeared to be directed at witnesses that either had provided or would provide information related to the investigation. One of the postings was on a blog created through the ESPNU Sports Network that was dedicated to news about Howard’s death. The second posting was on a Facebook.com wall titled “RIP Jasper Howard.” The wall was created to enable individuals to leave their condolences for Howard and was viewed by more than 8,000 people. Police said they had reason to believe that the postings were instilling fear and preventing witnesses from coming forward.

UConn police said they determined that Mutchler was responsible for the threatening postings, although his motive for the postings was unclear and he had no link or relation to others arrested in this case. Police termed the threats to be “empty.”