All Clear Given At Seton Hall; Campus To Reopen On Friday
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Seton Hall University was evacuated Thursday afternoon following a bomb threat, but by 8:30 p.m. campus life had begun to return to normal.
The school confirmed to CBS 2 that the all clear had been given after nothing was found. The school said it had been working with South Orange Police Department after being notified of the threat, which was made online.
Night classes were cancelled Thursday, and students were being allowed back onto campus and into dorms after 6 p.m. The school then confirmed that the campus would reopen Friday morning.
The threat left students worried as they spent several tense hours waiting for authorities to clear the campus.
"I was very worried, actually," Krystal Velez told CBS 2's Hazel Sanchez. "It's a serious thing that could just be a prank, but you never know. So I'm just praying for the best."
University spokesman Daniel Kalmanson issued the following statement Thursday night:
"Seton Hall University will reopen its main campus in South Orange beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 31, following a bomb threat posted earlier in the day on social media. The Essex County Bomb Squad and other local law enforcement agencies conducted a thorough search of each of the buildings on campus and found no evidence of explosive devices. Only residence students and essential University personnel are being allowed back on campus at this time. All classes and campus operations will resume as normal beginning Friday.
"The University was notified by the South Orange Police Department of the online threat at approximately 3:36 p.m. today and then closed the campus and began evacuating all individuals from the buildings as a precaution during the search. The University takes threats of this nature seriously and is working closely with police officials to investigate the matter."
The Essex County Bomb Squad spent the evening sweeping every building on campus with bomb sniffing dogs. The university is currently in summer sessions so only two of those buildings were occupied.
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