An unknown person made a bomb threat Tuesday morning between the side entrances of the Coleman library and Jazzman’s café.
Like many waiting for class, Navah Jackson was among the students who were taken by surprise that a bomb threat was made on one of the two pay phones mounted on the wall.
Although officials investigated the scene, they did not evacuate the library.
“I got here around 9:30 a.m., and about 30 minutes later I saw the police and FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) come and start looking at the phone,” said the sophomore psychology student from Marianna.
Jackson said she heard from another student passing by that there had been a bomb threat.
Later members of FDLE arrived accompanied by two FAMU Police Department officers to investigate the scene.
For two hours, officials investigated the phones by taping the surroundings and drawing fingerprints from the receiver and dial pad.
“FAMU PD notified them (FDLE officials) of the threat around 8 a.m. to immediately begin investigating the scene,” said Kristen Perezlha, the FDLE public information officer.
Following the investigation by FDLE, Sherri Luke, the FAMU PD crime prevention officer, confirmed that the scene had been completely processed and that there are currently no suspects in custody.
Luke added that prior to the bomb threat on Tuesday, FAMU Developmental Research School also received a bomb threat on Monday through a telephonic method.
And this is not the first FAMU bomb threat in recent years.
On February 4, 2004, Joel Floyd, 21, a sophomore biology student from Tallahassee was arrested and charged with two counts of false report of a bomb or explosive on state proper for a bomb threat that closed Tucker Hall.
“Bomb threats are taken seriously on campus and are considered felonies,” said Luke, who added that students like Floyd do not realize the harshness of such crimes.
Jackson said she remembers during her high school years, bomb threats were done on a regular basis.
“My high school had a week of bomb threats, but obviously nothing has happened so I’m not worried about it,” Jackson said.
“Bomb threats are serious and student safety comes first,” Luke said. “This is not something to play with and students should know that.”
Contact Christina Hordge at christinahordge@yahoo.com