On Tuesday, U. Pittsburgh evacuated five campus buildings because of general bomb threats.
Pitt Emergency Notification System alerts notified students about the threats at the Cathedral of Learning and Chevron Science Center, while the Litchfield Towers dormitories were evacuated early in the morning without a campus-wide alert. Tuesday’s threats brought this semester’s bomb threat total to 12 and the total for the week to five.
Early Tuesday morning, the Litchfield Towers complex became the fourth building on campus to receive a general bomb threat — the 10th of the semester. ENS alerts went out for Chevron and the Cathedral at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.
Shortly before the general bomb threat at the Cathedral Tuesday afternoon, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg sent out an email that evoked the memory of the March 8 Western Psychiatric Institute shooting on Pitt’s campus.
“Particularly given last month’s shootings at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and recent reminders of violence on other campuses, those responsible for these threats not only lack basic respect for the thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by them but must possess a heartless streak,” he said in the email. The email went on to say that the University would seek to prosecute those responsible to the “fullest extent of the law.”
Neither a University spokesperson nor someone from the Pittsburgh’s FBI office was available for comment.
Following the threat to the Cathedral, the University posted on the my.pitt portal that they have opened classrooms for Saturday classes on April 14 and April 21, and that students should be aware of their make-up schedules by April 7.
Enrico Mazza is one of the more than 1,800 students who live in the Towers dormitories. At around 3:30 a.m., he woke up to the sound of alarms telling students to evacuate. A Pitt ENS alert was not sent out about the evacuation.
“It’s getting annoying,” the biology major said in Towers Lobby at 10:30 a.m., still wearing pajama pants. “I don’t want to do it anymore, especially when I’m asleep.”
Buses brought some Towers residents up to the Petersen Events Center, while others waited in David Lawrence Hall for Towers to reopen two and a half hours later.
Several hours after residents reentered Towers, Pitt evacuated Chevron. The building was reopened nearly an hour and a half later. This is Chevron’s third bomb threat of the semester.
The Cathedral of Learning’s evacuation caused freshman Alexis Scott to miss her calculus class for a third time due to threats.
A Pitt ENS alert sent around 2:30 p.m. alerted people to the general bomb threat received at the building.
“At first it was like, “We can all go outside and tan.” Now, with finals coming up, missing class is crucial because we don’t have as much time to go over materials,” Scott said.
This was the seventh bomb threat the Cathedral of Learning has received since March 14.
Pitt senior Erika Zimmerman was standing outside the Cathedral following the afternoon threat.
“I don’t know what else they can do,” Zimmerman said. “You can’t stop taking it seriously because one of these times it might be something.”
At 5 p.m., the Cathedral reopened, in time for the evening’s night classes.
After the two bomb threats on Monday, Pitt posted a message on the my.pitt homepage notifying students that the award had increased from $10,000 to $50,000 for anyone who has information about any individuals responsible for the threats.