A bomb threat made by a man claiming to have ties to al-Qaida forced the University of Texas at Austin to evacuate its campus on Friday morning, with school officials instructing students to “get as far away as possible.”
A second bomb threat was also made at North Dakota State University, forcing a similar evacuation in Fargo, more than 1,000 miles north of Austin. No explosives were reported found at either campus as of noon on the east coast. It remains unclear if the two threats are related.
So far, we appear to know the most about the threat made in Austin. Most, of course, being a relative term. The Associated Press with the details:
“University of Texas spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said the university received a call about 8:35 a.m. from a man with a Middle Eastern accent claiming to be with al-Qaida. The man said he had placed bombs all over the campus that would go off in 90 minutes.”
UT officials warned students of the threat in an alert posted online this morning that read: “Immediately evacuate ALL buildings and get as far away as possible.”
Less is known about the situation in North Dakota, where university officials ordered their own evacuation this morning. Here’s the alert from NDSU:
“NDSU is requiring all employees and students to leave campus by 10:15 a.m. This includes residence hall students, who, if necessary, should walk to locations off campus. This also includes the downtown buildings and agricultural facilities. NDSU received a bomb threat, prompting this evacuation. Updates will follow.”
UPDATE 1:01 p.m.: UT officials have canceled classes for the day, but began to allow students back into the buildings on campus at noon local time.
We’ll continue to update with any major developments…
