Possibility Of Bomb Closes Hall

Students and faculty members evacuated Sitterson Hall on Thursday afternoon after a bomb threat was called in to the University switchboard.
Officials said the call was made to switchboard operators, who then called the UNC Department of Public Safety at about 1:05 p.m. to alert police.
Maj. Jeff McCracken, deputy director of DPS, said the unidentified caller gave no specific information. "It was a very brief, nondescript-type threat," he said.
McCracken said officers responded immediately and completed a walk-through search accompanied by investigators and building management personnel at Sitterson Hall.
Students and faculty members who were forced to evacuate after the fire alarm sounded waited outside the building until about 3 p.m., when police declared the building safe.
Although nothing has been confirmed, some officials at the site questioned whether the threat might have been an attempt to delay a Computers 4 exam scheduled for 2 p.m.
McCracken said he had not yet heard such an explanation, but the possibility has not been ruled out. "There have been cases before on college campuses where bomb threats have been used (to interrupt tests)," he said. "Whether or not that is the case here, I have no way of knowing. That's always a possibility."
The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.