Bomb
threat leads to class evacuation
By Michael Watanabe
On-line Forty-Niner
Chris
Milne, a biochemistry major, started his
four-hour biochemistry laboratory. About
an hour and a half in, the fire alarm went
off.
A bomb threat caused the evacuation of two
of the Peterson Hall Science Buildings and
the Microbiology Building in danger at approximately
1 p.m. the Thursday before Spring Break.
It is “really irritating,” Milne said.
An unknown female contacted a professor
in PH3 and threatened to cause “a lot of
damage” if the building were not evacuated
by 1:30 p.m., said University Police Chief
Jack Pearson. He did not know which professor
was contacted.
“We got a telephone bomb threat,” Pearson
said.
Based on the totality of the circumstances,
Pearson said the dean decided to evacuate
PH3, PH2 and the Microbiology Building.
“We worked with the police and went with
their recommendation,” said Robert Loeschen,
associate dean of the College of Natural
Sciences and Mathematics. “We had no other
special information.”
According to Pearson, there are three levels
of bomb threats. The first is a general
threat and is least credible.
The second level, which is the level this
threat fell under, is more specific, as
in “if you’ve got information that identifies
a specific building and time,” Pearson said.
This threat mentioned the PH3 and a time.
Plus, Pearson said, a science building has
the potential for lots of damage.
Under this level, the threat is followed
by a visual inspection. The dean then decides
whether to let people back in or not
The third level requires an immediate evacuation,
since the police “really believe there’s
a bomb,” Pearson said.
One professor found the scare irritating
as well.
“It’s very inconvenient,” said the microbiology
professor, who declined to give his name.
The professor was about to give a major
test at 2 p.m.
According to penal code 646.9, any malicious
threat with the intent of causing fear is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail
for a year or less, a fine of $1,000 or
a combination of both.
Students and faculty were allowed back into
the building at approximately 1:40 p.m.
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