Bomb threats on college campuses are law violations with serious repercussions

EL PASO – First UT Austin, then Texas A&M, North Dakota State, Texas A&M again, Texas State, and now UTEP.  What do all these schools have in common? They are just a few of the universities in this country that were prompted to evacuate due to bomb threats. On March 26, nearly 20,000 faculty, staff, and students evacuated UTEP’s buildings after being alerted by campus police of a real threat on campus. After receiving a text from the campus police, I calmly gathered my belongings and made my way to the nearest exit, not really panicking.

Bomb threat empties the University of Texas at El Paso campus

EL PASO—More than 15,000 students and faculty members were evacuated today from the University of Texas at El Paso as a result of an anonymous bomb threat. At 1:58 p.m. the UTEP Police Department issued a text message and an e-mail alerting everyone enrolled in the Miner Alert System to evacuate the campus. UTEP Police Chief Cliff Walsh would not disclose any details about the ongoing investigation, except that it was initiated by a phone call and the proper precautionary steps were taken as a response to the threat. “The campus is safe. We are going to check the campus out and we will engage in other activities to make sure the campus is safe and we are working with our state, local and federal partners on this as well,” said Walsh during a press conference at Mundy Park, just outside of campus.