Bomb threat called in to Othmer Hall
Title
Bomb threat called in to Othmer Hall
Description
By: Andy Boyle
Posted: 4/20/07
A man called in a bomb threat to Othmer Hall around noon Friday, university officials said.
Authorities did not find any explosives during an initial search of the building. After being closed for about two hours, the building is now open to students and faculty.
At a 3 p.m. press conference, Chancellor Harvey Perlman said Friday's bomb threat was not real.
"I do want to observe that several other campuses around the country ... have had similar threats over the course of this week," he said. "And to some extent, unfortunately, these are to be expected when we had a major event like we had at Virginia Tech."
University officials said if students feel uncomfortable being on campus Friday, they should leave.
Kelly Bartling, a university spokeswoman, said there were no classes Friday at Othmer Hall, Nebraska Hall and Walter Scott Engineering Center, which are all connected, because of an engineering college event.
Several hundred people were scheduled to visit the building Friday because of the event, called EWeek. Those events are now canceled.
Bartling said a man called the dean's office and told an assistant, "I planted a bomb in the building, you bitch."
Othmer Hall contains the Biological Process Development Facility, which researches vaccines for biological warfare agents, according to the facility's Web site, www.pbdf.unl.edu.
John Ballard, associate dean of the college of engineering, didn't know if there was a hazard involved because of that.
The university has sent out three e-mails notifying students of what's happening. The e-mails suggest students avoid the area.
Othmer Hall was the first building to be evacuated, said University Police Chief Owen Yardley. Nebraska Hall and Walter Scott Engineering Center were evacuated about 20 minutes later.
The last bomb threat called in to the university was in late September, when a man approached a group of sorority members at the parking garage at 17th and R claiming to have a bomb.
Yardley couldn't comment on how the search of Othmer was conducted or what was used in it.
He also would not confirm that the caller was a man. Earlier, Bartling told the Daily Nebraskan the caller was a man.
"We know it was a phone call that was received by somebody in the department," Yardley said.
Police procedure is to attempt traces on the phone call and investigate who is involved, Yardley said. He said the bomb threat would be a felony charge.
Perlman said if a student were involved, he would like them to punished as seriously as the university allows.
"I would hope that the campus community would take this seriously," he said, "and if anybody hears or sees anything that would help in this investigation, they would notify campus police or Crime Stoppers or provide us with information."
University Police can be reached at 472-3555. The Crime Stoppers number is 475-3600.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/04/20/News/Bomb-Threat.Called.In.To.Othmer.Hall-2871697.shtml>Daily Nebraskan - April 20, 2007</a>
Posted: 4/20/07
A man called in a bomb threat to Othmer Hall around noon Friday, university officials said.
Authorities did not find any explosives during an initial search of the building. After being closed for about two hours, the building is now open to students and faculty.
At a 3 p.m. press conference, Chancellor Harvey Perlman said Friday's bomb threat was not real.
"I do want to observe that several other campuses around the country ... have had similar threats over the course of this week," he said. "And to some extent, unfortunately, these are to be expected when we had a major event like we had at Virginia Tech."
University officials said if students feel uncomfortable being on campus Friday, they should leave.
Kelly Bartling, a university spokeswoman, said there were no classes Friday at Othmer Hall, Nebraska Hall and Walter Scott Engineering Center, which are all connected, because of an engineering college event.
Several hundred people were scheduled to visit the building Friday because of the event, called EWeek. Those events are now canceled.
Bartling said a man called the dean's office and told an assistant, "I planted a bomb in the building, you bitch."
Othmer Hall contains the Biological Process Development Facility, which researches vaccines for biological warfare agents, according to the facility's Web site, www.pbdf.unl.edu.
John Ballard, associate dean of the college of engineering, didn't know if there was a hazard involved because of that.
The university has sent out three e-mails notifying students of what's happening. The e-mails suggest students avoid the area.
Othmer Hall was the first building to be evacuated, said University Police Chief Owen Yardley. Nebraska Hall and Walter Scott Engineering Center were evacuated about 20 minutes later.
The last bomb threat called in to the university was in late September, when a man approached a group of sorority members at the parking garage at 17th and R claiming to have a bomb.
Yardley couldn't comment on how the search of Othmer was conducted or what was used in it.
He also would not confirm that the caller was a man. Earlier, Bartling told the Daily Nebraskan the caller was a man.
"We know it was a phone call that was received by somebody in the department," Yardley said.
Police procedure is to attempt traces on the phone call and investigate who is involved, Yardley said. He said the bomb threat would be a felony charge.
Perlman said if a student were involved, he would like them to punished as seriously as the university allows.
"I would hope that the campus community would take this seriously," he said, "and if anybody hears or sees anything that would help in this investigation, they would notify campus police or Crime Stoppers or provide us with information."
University Police can be reached at 472-3555. The Crime Stoppers number is 475-3600.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/04/20/News/Bomb-Threat.Called.In.To.Othmer.Hall-2871697.shtml>Daily Nebraskan - April 20, 2007</a>
Creator
Andy Boyle
Publisher
Daily Nebraskan
Date
2007-09-03
Contributor
Sara AA Hood
Rights
Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
Language
eng
Citation
Andy Boyle, “Bomb threat called in to Othmer Hall,” The April 16 Archive, accessed November 23, 2024, https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/1281.