According to the Houston Chronicle, the campus of the University of Texas at Austin was evacuated
on Friday, Sept. 14, due to a bomb threat called into the campus' main number from a man claiming to be a member of Al Qaeda.
Timeline of UT bomb threat crisis
According to the University of Texas at Austin website, the campus was ordered to be evacuated at 9:53 a.m. Central time after the bomb threat was received at 8:35, according to the Chronicle account. All buildings on the campus had been evacuated by 10:25. By 11:46, it was announced that the UT campus would be reopened at noon but that classes had been cancelled.
Bomb threat made by man with a 'Middle Eastern accent'
The Houston Chronicle account states that the early morning bomb threat was made by an unidentified man with a "Middle Eastern accent" claiming to be a member of Al Qaeda. According to an account of the evacuation on Fox News, the man claimed that bombs had been placed "all over the campus" and were timed to go off in 90 minutes.
Evacuation order made almost 83 minutes later
University officials ordered the campus evacuated about seven minutes before the caller had suggested the bombs were timed to go off, according to the Fox News account. Sirens were sounded and a text message was sent to cell phones of students, faculty, and staff to leave the campus as quickly as possible. Police blocked the entrances to the University of Texas campus, causing gridlock throughout downtown Austin. However, having evidently concluded that the bomb threat was a hoax, the campus was reopened about an hour later.
North Dakota State University also hit with bomb threat
Both the main campus and the downtown campus of North Dakota State University at Fargo were ordered evacuated, also due to a bomb threat, according to Fox News. As of this writing, the evacuation order remains in effect.
University of Texas hit by violence before
According to the Houston Chronicle account, the University of Texas campus had also been evacuated on Sept. 28, 2010, when a gunman opened fire in the university library, shooting and killing himself. One of the most horrific violent incidents on any university campus in history took place on Aug. 1, 1966, when Charles Whitman ascended to the observation deck of the University of Texas Tower and opened fire on people on the campus. Before he was taken down by a mixed force of police and a deputized private citizen, 17 people, including Whitman, had died and 31 people had been injured.
Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.
Source :Yahoo News
