University Police were informed of the first box attached to a second-story ledge of the Science B Building at 8:03 a.m. Handwriting on the outside of the box included the words “I will destroy your city.” Officers closed the area and evacuated the building. Eventually a number of nearby buildings and common areas were closed as well.
Two bomb technicians from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department assisted at the scene, x-raying the boxes and removing them.
University Police responded to reports of a second box attached to the outside of the Art Building at 8:48 a.m. University Police closed the Art Quad area and evacuated the Art Building, Old Music Building, Music Building and the lobby of the Van Duzer Theater.
In the early afternoon a third box was found on a second-floor ledge of the Natural Resources and Sciences building.
At 12:30 p.m. three HSU students arrived at the University Police Department and volunteered that they had been responsible for placing the boxes as a “prank.” The students said that they had hoped that the unusual placement of the cardboard boxes high on ledges outside buildings might be “interesting” to the casual passerby, and that people might wonder how the boxes had been placed in the locations. These students expressed regret that their “prank” was interpreted as a possible bomb threat.
The three involved students were identified, interviewed and released while the investigation continues.
The University Police Department, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, and HSU administration are currently reviewing the possible administrative sanctions or criminal charges against the students.
Final exams and other academic activities scheduled before 2 p.m. were rescheduled as needed.
The university posted updates to its Emergency Notification Web site as well as 826-INFO throughout the incident. KHSU-FM along with other regional media outlets were also updated throughout the day.
The campus Emergency Text Alert System is activated only in the event of a campus-wide emergency. Today’s incident involved two geographically defined areas of the campus, and there were many students, staff and faculty who were in unaffected areas. Police chose not to interrupt the final exams in unaffected areas by initiating a text alert.
Responding agencies included the University Police Department, the Arcata Police Department, the Arcata Volunteer Fire Department, eight members of the Campus Emergency Response Team and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department.
For more information visit http://www.humboldt.edu/emergency.