At 2:12 p.m. on Friday, members of the Longwood community received an alert informing campus that Greenwood Library and Brock Hall had been evacuated due to an emailed bomb threat. While the threat was eventually found not to be credible, the library remained closed for the day.
Five other Virginia colleges and universities — University of Virginia, George Mason University, Shenandoah University, Bridgewater College and Randolph-Macon College — also received bomb threats to their libraries that were eventually cleared.
In a statement to The Rotunda, University Spokesman and Deputy to the President Matt McWilliams wrote, “LUPD and the Office of Emergency Management have been in close contact with other universities as we have all responded to similar threats today, as well as with our area law enforcement partners and Virginia State Police.”
These threats come one day after a deadly shooting at Old Dominion University that killed one and injured two others. In a statement to The Cavalier Daily, a spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said their office would not speculate whether the threats were connected to the shooting and said an investigation is ongoing.
However, both incidents have put students and faculty at Virginia colleges on alert as students return to campuses from Spring Break.
McWilliams said that campus security remains a top priority for Longwood. He wrote, “Incidents or threats at Longwood or at another university naturally prompt concerns and thoughts about safety, but I can tell you that we take every threat seriously and work swiftly to make decisions for the safety of our community, while communicating the most accurate information we can.”
He added, “Chief Comer is an experienced, veteran law enforcement officer who has built and trained a fully accredited department, and the safety of the Longwood community is in capable hands with her at the helm of LUPD.”
Last academic year, Longwood received multiple unrelated and unfounded bomb threats at Grainger Hall and Moss Hall within two weeks of one another.
The Rotunda will continue to cover this story as it develops.
