SUNY Buffalo State College and University Police are continuing their investigation into a threat it had received Thursday, leading officials to cancel classes and close the campus for the remainder of the day. So far, however, police said there is no evidence the threat was credible.
Out of an abundance of caution and with spring break on the horizon, the college has cancelled all Friday classes. Only critical-essential employees, after consultation with their supervisors, should report to campus on Friday. All other employees should check with their supervisors about possible remote work arrangements.
The college said the Campbell Student Union and Dining Services will reopen Friday, normal operations for all employees will resume on Monday and classes will resume after spring break on April 4.
Interim University Police Chief Amy Pedlow expressed satisfaction over how the Campus Alert System worked in response to the threat.
"With the limited information that we had coming in, we shared that information with our campus community as soon as it did come in, when we canceled the classes for the rest of the day,” Pedlow said.
Administrators and police said the college received a bomb threat targeting academic buildings, though they did not identify which buildings were named in that threat.
On-campus residents were instructed to return to their rooms, while students not living on campus were told to go home. Non-residents unable to leave campus were instructed to go to the sports arena.
Administrators said food would be provided to students staying in their rooms or sheltering at the sports arena until the threat was deemed over. Pedlow couldn’t give an exact time on when students would be able to walk around campus again, saying only that students would be let out when law enforcement finished its investigation.
Update from University Police pic.twitter.com/xkbWkDjbtl
— SUNY Buffalo State College (@buffalostate) March 24, 2022
In addition to New York State's University Police, the Buffalo Police Department, Buffalo Fire Department, Erie County Sheriff's Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were also participating in the investigation.
Officials are urging anyone with information that may be of assistance to investigators to call University Police at (716) 878-6333. You can also leave a message on the University Police anonymous tip line at (716) 878-3166.
