Police evacuate buildings after bomb threat

By Keith Thomas
Editor in Chief

An anonymous bomb threat phoned in to the Purdue Police Department from an undisclosed campus telephone prompted the evacuation of approximately 300 people Wednesday morning from Hovde Hall and the Elliott Hall of Music.

According to Joe Bennett, vice president for University relations, police know which campus public phone the threat was placed from, but would not release the location because of the ongoing investigation. Bennett also said the individual who phoned in the threat told police there were a total of four bombs in and around the area of Hovde Hall.

After about an hour-long search between the two buildings, police found a suspicious package in the basement of Hovde Hall. Members of the Purdue Police and the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's departments conducted a controlled detonation of the package to test if it was actually an explosive, which it wasn't.

A short time later, police destroyed a second package found — described as a cardboard box with duct tape wrapped around similar to the first one found — and it too was deemed a non-explosive.

The call, which was received at 9:10 a.m., came almost 24 hours after the initiation of the worst terrorist attack against the United States in history. Because of the magnitude of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C. and western Pennsylvania, Purdue officials took Wednesday's threat seriously.

"This incident will not be treated as a prank," Bennett said in a statement. "It is cruel. It is cowardly. The entire nation has suffered enough. It is also a waste of resources."

As hundreds of students passed by between classes during the more than two-hour bomb search, a need for details was present. Staring from beyond the large perimeter of yellow police tape, students looked on with concern and curiosity.

Most of the passersby simply wanted to know if this was a hoax — someone taking advantage of a nation's vulnerability a day after the tragic Tuesday.

"If they are taking advantage, it's unfortunate," said Charlie Lambert, a junior in the School of Liberal Arts. "I think it's a horrible, horrible thing that happened (Tuesday)."

The fact that no explosive devices were found indicates that it was likely a prank and that's something that troubles University officials.

"If this is a hoax, then it's a despicable and a cruel one," said Bennett. "The University disciplinary system, if it turned out to be a student, would certainly take a very hard look at it.

"I would hope that there would be severe punishment if someone were convicted of this."

The search for explosive devices, which was a joint effort by area law enforcement officials including canine units from the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department, lasted the duration of the morning. The results may not have produced anything other than a couple of suspicious looking packages, but the threat of a possible bomb was enough to stop productivity in two and a half University buildings.

Along with Hovde Hall and the Elliott Hall of Music, half of the Psychological Sciences Building was closed off and evacuated.

Despite the fact that several people weren't able to get much work done Wednesday morning due to the threat, many people effected seemed to keep things in perspective.

"The world changed yesterday," said Steve Hall, director of the Elliott Hall of Music. "So, you go into work not the same anymore. So, you expect things to be different, but certainly not like this."

At the time of the threat, University president Martin Jischke was not in his Hovde Hall office, but was on campus at a meeting.

Later, at 9:15 p.m., Purdue responded to a suspicious package at the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall. Following another controlled detonation, it was determined that the item in question was non-explosive.

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CAMPUS DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 253

Campus editor: Laura Pelner

Assistant campus editors: Kurt Esposito, Dave Stephens

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