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CSU, UC campuses respond to potential bomb threats

One University of California and three Cal State University campuses have all responded to potential bomb threats since Thursday.

Both Cal State Los Angeles and University of California, Berkeley received bomb threats Thursday, while police on the Cal State Dominguez Hills and Northridge campuses responded to suspicious packages Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Around 11 a.m. Thursday, the El Monte Police Department received two calls, claiming that bombs were placed at CSULA and UC Berkeley, according to Lt. Dan Burlingham of the EMPD.

El Monte police were also told the bombs would detonate within two hours, Burlingham said.

The department notified the universities, then CSULA administration and police quickly decided to evacuate the campus and cancel classes for the day, according to CSULA Spokesman Paul Browning.

“It was actually just a really well organized evacuation,” Browning said. “[Students and faculty] all left fairly quickly.”

During and after the evacuation, a bomb squad from the Los Angeles Police Department swept the CSULA campus, searching for the bombs, according to Browning. UC Berkeley police also searched their campus, though they chose not to evacuate students and faculty, according to Lt. Marc Decoulode of the UC Berkeley Police Department.

“We evaluated the credibility of the threat,” Decoulode said, “and it didn’t have any real specific information or detailed information.”

Decoulode said UC Berkeley police searched some high-profile buildings and areas on campus for any bombs. Officers at neither university located anything.

CSULA was cleared at 9 p.m. Thursday, and classes resumed the next day, Browning said.

However, Burlingham said Friday that the LAPD is further investigating the two calls EMPD received, both of which came from payphones.

Burlingham said the caller was male, but EMPD police did not locate any suspects near the payphones after the calls.

Also on Thursday, CSUDH campus police investigated a “suspicious package” left in an isolated spot in the University Library, according to Lt. David Hall of the CSUDH Police Department. Hall said the package was an expensive, large briefcase with combination locks.

Hall said because officers could not locate the briefcase’s owner, CSUDH police chose to evacuate the library and bring in a bomb squad from the LA County Sheriff’s Department.

Hall said CSUDH finds abandoned property often on the campus, but some qualities of the briefcase gave police reason to exercise caution.

“The nature of this particular item and its location and its appearance pushed over the threat assessment to abundance of caution,” Hall said. “This one stood out by its location and appearance and the fact that we couldn’t locate the person it belonged to for a significant amount of time.”

However, upon investigation, CSUDH campus police and the bomb squad found that the briefcase contained only student materials, including books and a laptop, Hall said.

On Friday, campus police at CSUN also investigated a suspicious package on campus, a box left in an outside eating area, according to CSUN Police Department Public Information Officer Christina Villalobos. CSUN police brought in a dog from its K-9 unit to investigate the box but found no threats, Villalobos said.

Assistant Diversions Editor Danielle Carson contributed to this report.
 

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