You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
For the second time this year, multiple historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S. went into lockdown and canceled classes after receiving bomb threats Monday, NPR reported.
At least six institutions—Albany State University, Bethune-Cookman University, Bowie State University, Delaware State University, Howard University and Southern University and A&M College—reported the threats Monday. Earlier in January, at least eight HBCUs were targeted with bomb threats, which proved unfounded but unsettled students.
Most of the institutions lifted lockdown orders and issued all clears by Monday afternoon, NPR reported. Howard University police and Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department issued an all-clear at 6:22 a.m., around two hours after the threat was made. A spokesperson for Delaware State University told NPR that police had completed their search of the entire campus by early afternoon and hadn’t found a bomb.
Federal law enforcement has gotten involved. “The FBI is aware of the series of bomb threats around the country and we are working with our law enforcement partners to address any potential threats,” the FBI said in a statement to NPR. “As always, we would like to remind members of the public that if they observe anything suspicious to report it to law enforcement immediately.”
Additionally, the acting deputy director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Thomas Chittum, told ABC News that agents from the bureau are responding to the threats. “We can confirm that ATF has responded,” Chittum said. “Of course, it is a federal crime to use interstate facilities to make a bomb threat, and so ATF will provide our investigative expertise and support to that investigation, but obviously, the facts are preliminary and unfolding.”
