By Dennis O’Neil
Two separate bomb scares frightened students and staff on the University of Louisville’s Belknap campus Thursday.
The first threat, which was received around 10:45 this morning, prompted university officials to evacuate the Miller Information Technology Center near Eastern Parkway; the second, which was received initially by e-mail, left police searching for a potential bomb on campus, officials said.
According to U of L spokesman John Drees, the school’s associate vice president for communications and marketing, no building was identified in the first threat, which was received around 10:45 this morning. The threat was received in the MITC, but students and staff got the okay to return to the building after police searched and cleared the area.
In the second incident, which happened around 7 p.m., police said an student received an e-mail off-campus claiming there was a bomb somewhere on campus. Another student reported a suspicious package outside Ekstrom Library after the e-mail was received, police said. Emergency crews investigated the mysterious box, which they said turned out to be a brick wrapped in paper.
University officials recommended students and faculty go about their regular activities and more information will be reported as it comes in.
Just after 11 a.m., Provost Dr. Shirley Willihnganz issued a statement to the Cardinal about how the administration is handling the situation. She stated that the administration is trying to act as quickly as possible, but they don’t want to create a panic if they don’t believe one is necessary. The University immediately sent out a mass e-mail notifying students and faculty about the situation.
“Right now, we want everyone to sit tight,” Willihnganz stated. “Standard protocol at this point is that we have some leads and we are trying to figure out where the phone call may have come from.”
Around noon, President Dr. James R. Ramsey and Vice President for Business Affairs Larry Owsley made a trip into the building cafeteria to assure students and staff that the situation was being handled. Owsley stated that he believed the situation to be under control.
“We are tracing the phone numbers that came in, with help from the FBI and the local police,” Owsley said. “Even though we think things are under control, we want everyone to know we are checking things out as thoroughly as we can.”
Despite the administrations actions, students inside Miller Center talked about how unsafe a bomb threat made them feel, particularly in the wake of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute tragedy.
“It is a really awkward time to have a bomb threat considering what just happened [at Va. Tech],” said junior chemical engineering major Jennifer Ellison, who was in the building at the time of the evacuation.
“They didn’t tell us why to leave, but just to leave,” Ellison said. “It freaked everyone out a bit and made me very wary of coming back.”
Junior interior design major Grays Miller said she hadn’t been aware that there was a bomb threat, and it really made her question her own safety.
“Knowing there was a bomb threat makes me feel pretty unsafe right now,” Miller said.
Anyone with information or concerns is encouraged to contact the university police at 852-6111. It is still unclear whether the incidents are “copycat” events related to the Va. Tech shootings earlier this week.
The Cardinal will update information as it comes in about the investigation.
Other staff reports contributed to this story.
