The College Station Police Department Bomb Squad responded to a 3:10 p.m. report of a suspicious package located at the corner of John Kimbrough and Olsen Blvd. at the Northwest corner of West Campus Garage.
At 3:33 p.m. a Code Maroon Alert was sent out to campus students and faculty, followed by updates to remain away from the area. The streets were largely shut down around the package, an orange cooler with wires sticking out from it, until bomb squad arrived and determined the package was not a threat. Campus was notified via Code Maroon Alert at 5:02 p.m. that the package was cleared and normal activity could resume.
University Police Department Lieutenant Allan Baron said safety is the priority in every situation like this.
“Safety is the most important thing,” Baron said. “We have a very large community here and anytime we have anything that we feel that could be a danger or pose a danger to the general public we’re going to take necessary action.”
Baron said it was a student who reported the suspicious package. While it is unclear how the package was placed there, Baron said there will be further investigation into the matter.
“We do have video surveillance in the area so investigators will be reviewing the video footage in the area so they can determine how it actually got placed there,” Baron said.
Baron said an incident like this, even where the threat turned out to be false, could result in serious consequences for the individual or individuals involved.
“In an incident like this it could fall under what we refer to as a ‘terroristic threat’ even though it turns out to be false it still is considered a criminal offense,” Baron said.
Overall, Baron said he was pleased with the response of campus and city officials.
“I was very pleased with the response,” Baron said. “The departments did an outstanding job we had support from other entities here on campus and the local community that assisted in helping us get through this situation.”
CSPD Bomb Squad responds to suspicious package at West Campus Garage Thursday
October 8, 2015
Photo by By Sam King
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