(Reuters) – Several historically Black colleges and universities in the United States received bomb threats on Monday, forcing schools to issue shelter in place orders while cancelling classes and operations for the day.
Some of the schools that received threats included Albany State University in Georgia, Southern University and A&M College in Louisiana, Howard University in Washington, DC, and Bowie State University in Maryland.
“Due to an emergency on campus, classes will meet virtually. Persons on campus should shelter in place until further notice,” Bowie State University said in a message on the school’s website.
It was the second time this month that Black colleges and universities faced a string of bomb threats. On Jan. 5, eight HBCUs received threats, but no suspicious packages or explosives were found.
Federal and local authorities were investigating the incidents. Acting ATF Deputy Director Tom Chittum in a call with reporters on Monday confirmed that the agency was on the scene to investigate bomb threats at the schools.
“It is a federal crime to use interstate facilities to make a bomb threat,” he said. “ATF will provide our investigative expertise and support to that investigation. But obviously the facts are preliminary.”
The Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach was placed on lockdown on Monday morning, the Daytona Beach Police Department said, after a bomb threat was reported. Police were on the scene at the campus and said they will release more information later in the day.
The Washington Metropolitan Police Department said that at Howard University the “scene was cleared without any hazardous materials being found” after a threat was reported earlier.
Southern University and A&M College said on the school’s website that classes were canceled and students were to remain in their dorm rooms until an all-clear was issued.
“University operations will be suspended until further notice and campus entry will be limited at this time,” the school said.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien, Kanishka Singh, Barbara Goldberg and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Mark Porter)
