A bomb threat shut down one of the busiest buildings on the Texas A&M campus Wednesday, turning 10,000 students away from classes.

According to police and university officials, the scare was caused by a typed note found on a bulletin board in a campus residence hall. A student who discovered the note immediately took it to a staff member who called police about 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Police would not say which dorm the note was found in or what it said.

Within an hour, police cleared Heldenfelds Hall, which already was almost empty, while three agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms led two dogs through the building in search of potential explosives.

The search lasted until about 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. Police found nothing and declared that they were "reasonably certain" that the building was safe, however; A&M officials still decided to close the building for the day.

"We discussed it with top administration and I think they felt under the circumstances, and without [investigators] being able to assure that the building was completely safe, they believe that the prudent thing to do was err on the side of abundant caution and keep it closed for the day," said Chris Meyer, vice president for environmental health and safety at A&M.

Classes in the building are expected to return to a normal schedule Thursday. Heldenfelds Hall is a four-story building near the Quad that is filled with large lecture halls for beginning science classes, offices and lab rooms. Officers stood guard outside throughout Wednesday.

Students were notified of the closure by an early morning university-wide e-mail. Still, many arrived at the building without receiving the e-mail to see signs with the announcement posted on the doors. Many speculated that the threat was made by a student attempting to get out of a test, a thought that crossed the mind administrators, too.

"We certainly consider those types of scenarios, but if we can't verify that is the case then we have to consider the other possibilities as well," Meyer said. "In this case, we were unable to determine for certain that this was a hoax."

Meyer said that the university has had bomb threats before, but this week's was the first in recent times.

In 1985, a student was arrested for phoning in a bomb threat to Bolton Hall in order to avoid taking a political science test. Police said at the time that a study group agreed the test would be too difficult, and offered a case of beer and a bottle of whiskey to a classmate if he phoned in a threat.

At least two tests were postponed Wednesday because of the threat. Interim Provost Jerry Strawser said that administration has not directly discussed with professors how to address the skipped classes.

"It will be handled like we have handled weather days in the past," Strawser said. "Faculty can either make up the time during the semester or we have classes at the end of the semester, too."

No suspects have been identified in the case, according to University Police Chief Elmer Schnieder. Police are requesting that anyone with information about the threat call 845-2345.

If found, the author of the letter could face charges of making a terroristic threat and could face a Class A misdemeanor or felony charge. Either level of the charge could bring jail time.

• Matthew Watkins' e-mail address is matthew.watkins@theeagle.com.

Comments

(Requires free registration.)

0 comment(s) found!