Bomb threat hoax causes evacuations, lockdowns

Cornellians were sent into fear and confusion today after receiving multiple messages from the Cornell Emergency Alert system.

The first message was received around 1:57 PM telling students to “avoid the Arts Quad and Goldwin Smith Hall” and if “in the area shelter in place.” The alerts were soon followed by emails and phone calls repeating the same message.

After receiving this warning, many students took to social media sites, such as Reddit, for an explanation of the message, only to find they were not the only ones confused.  Multiple threads asking “Anyone know what’s going on?” began to flood the page.

Around 2:12 PM, Cornellians received another message, this time expressed in all caps, warning them  to “ EVACUATE AND AVOID THE LAW SCHOOL,GOLDWIN SMITH, UPSON HALL AND KENNEDY HALL PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE CORNELL POLICE UNLESS YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY”.

Neither of these two messages revealed what the cause of concern was, instead creating further panic and confusion across campus. Many students on central campus had decided to vacate the area, and some even began calling their parents.

Students began to frantically search for answers, and rumors of shooters and bomb threats began to spread. Between 3:00 PM and 3:24 PM, students received another alert asking them to “Avoid central campus. Evacuate areas in or nearby the Law School, Goldwin Smith, Upson Hall and Kennedy Hall.”

Several news outlets offered students insight into the situation when they reported that law enforcement was investigating a potential bomb threat. The Ithaca Voice reported that the university confirmed that it received a threat.

At 4:06 PM, the university released a message reading, “Ithaca Campus Law enforcement is on site and investigating a campus bomb threat. Security perimeter is in place. Continue to avoid central campus.”

The search continued until 7:33 PM when a final alert was released stating, “Law enforcement has concluded a search of the Ithaca campus; no credible threats were found. It is safe to resume all normal activities.” Shortly after, Joel Malina, Vice President for University Relations, said in a statement, “We are relieved to report that this threat appears to have been a hoax. A cruel hoax; but, thankfully, just a hoax.”

Cornell University was not the only victim of a bomb threat hoax today. The Wall Street Journal reported that Brown University and Columbia University had to evacuate buildings as well. Yale University also experienced a similar incident on Friday. None of these threats were deemed credible by authorities.