UPDATED: Campus Buildings Evacuated After Suspicious Package is Found

by commentnewspaper

Comment Staff Report

UPDATE: 11:20 A.M.

Bridgewater State University Police have cleared the Harrington Hall parking lot after the suspicious package on campus was identified as a non-threat.

According to Director of University Advancement, Eva Gaffney, the package was a backpack full of beer belonging to a first-year student. The backpack was inside a car with no university markings or stickers on it. Police were notified via 9-1-1 call.

“With everyone on a heightened state of vigiliance, it only made sense,” Gaffney said. Gaffney refers to the lock down currently in place in Boston after a crime spree from suspects of the Boston Marathon Bombings.

The U.S. Navy bomb squad called in from Connecticut was in the process of investigating the backpack, when the first-year student informed officials it was his girlfriend’s car. When the bomb squad opened the backpack to discover the alcohol, the student was arrested for possession of alcohol and for disturbing the peace, Gaffney said.

The university sent text and call alerts to let the campus community and nearby residents know the threat was eliminated.

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Bridgewater State University’s Woodward and Harrington Hall were evacuated  after a suspicious package was found the Harrington parking lot.

Students received text alerts and phone calls, as well as an email around 10 A.M. Friday, informing them of the incident. At this time, no other areas have been affected and all classes in Harrington Hall are cancelled for the rest of the day.

Students lit up the popular “bsulife” hashtag on Twitter within minutes of the incident. Bridgewater State student Loryn Moynihan urged the campus to remain calm.

“I encourage #bsulife to just remain calm & follow all of the @BSUPolice1 instructions,” she wrote on Twitter. “Panicking & spreading false info helps no one.”

The Comment will offer updates on the situation as they become available.

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