PANIC IN THE HOLY CITY … BUT FOR WHAT?
|| By FITSNEWS || A week after a bloody murder-suicide shooting rocked one South Carolina institution of “higher learning,” another Palmetto State school has been hit with a bomb scare.
Adding to the chaos? Conflicting reports over the veracity of the initial warnings … which the school later disavowed and blamed on “bad coding.”
The bomb threat was first reported Tuesday morning on the College of Charleston campus – specifically near the Beatty Center (located at 5 Liberty Street in downtown Charleston). Students were notified of the threat – and told to prepare for possible evacuations – via the school’s Cougar Alert system.
“A bomb has been found on the College of Charleston campus,” the alert stated. “If you are on campus, prepare immediately for possible evacuation.”
A notification was also posted to the school’s Facebook page at 11:07 a.m. EST.
Here’s a look at the warning …
(Click to enlarge)
(Pic: Provided)
Naturally, panic ensued.
“They found a bomb on campus,” College of Charleston student Mackenzie Logan tweeted. “Just ran out of my classroom as fast as I could. Never been this shaken up in my life.”
Meanwhile parents reported receiving calls regarding a “credible bomb threat” on campus. They were urged to contact their loved ones and tell them to “stay away from the business school and Craig Hall,” a three-story residence housing approximately 150 students.
Of course moments after the warnings were issued, school officials said there was “no bomb” – blaming a faulty dispatch code for triggering the alarm. Also the Facebook warning quickly vanished from the internet.
Nonetheless, police in the Holy City – who say they received credible threats against the school Tuesday morning – were taking no chances. Armed with automatic rifles, they descended on the campus – shutting down streets and evacuating students, faculty and staff from multiple buildings.
“There is a bomb squad here,” Logan tweeted from downtown Charleston. ” They said it’s an active threat.”
She added police were “closing down everything.”
University public safety officers and Charleston, S.C. police were the first officers to respond to the threat … which authorities picked up at approximately 10:59 a.m. EST. They say the threat was made via telephone, and referenced bombs in two buildings on campus.
UPDATE: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED.
10 comments
“UPDATE: Now College of Charleston officials say no bomb has been found on campus.”
lol. Probably was some bookbag or something.
Reminds me of this:
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/02/tiny-ohio-town-freaked-out-by-mario-prank/
Or this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare
Honestly, when I saw College and Cougar Alert my mind took a detour down memory lane. Glad everything is OK though.
As a parent of a student there, I really don’t find anything to LOL about!
(tears of fear well up in her eyes as she rushes to text little Suzy to be sure all is well every time she reads about a car accident in Charleston)
A faulty code? Really, no human error involved at all? BAD computer, BAD…LOL.
Threat was called in to Charleston Police. Coding error was that a bomb had actually been found, not that a threat had been made. Investigatory journalists don’t typically rely entirely on student tweets. Thanks for another top notch report.
This is not an investigative website, it relies on unnamed sources.
FITS could rely on his own expert journalistic skills, or use the kid’s Tweet. I’m thinking he chose the better of the two options. And that is about par for this site. (: ….