Howard University ended Black History Month with a bomb threat.
FOX 5 reported the Washington D.C.-based HBCU received a bomb threat around 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 28, and advised students and faculty to shelter in place. The threat was made to the campus radio station, WHUR. According the The Hilltop, an employee received the threat after answering the phone during The Steve Harvey Morning Show.
“It was a normal morning, we were doing our normal morning show. There was staff in the building, probably about five or six people,” a radio show employee said. “There was a bomb threat made over the phone that we responded to and we immediately informed campus police and they took it from there.”
A tweet was created by the Howard University Department of Public Safety advising people to stay clear of an intersection close to Bryant and 4th St. until further notice.
@dcpolicedept and DPS are investigating a bomb threat made to WHUR this morning. A shelter-in-place has been ordered for the station complex. All persons on main campus are advised to avoid pedestrian or vehicle traffic near Bryant and 4th St. until further notice. #bisonsafe pic.twitter.com/ad9kRqsrjc
— Howard University Department of Public Safety (@HowardPolice) February 28, 2023
Students, like Atlanta Atkinson and Arthur Codrington, had mixed feelings when the alert was sent. “Another one, like, again?,’” Atkinson remembered. “And I think the fact that it was on the last day of February – it should hold some more validity maybe.”
“I just kind of shrugged it off and was like ‘Oh, another Howard thing,’” Codrington said. “I’m sure it was like some white person decided ‘oh let me go put a bomb threat at an HBCU and end Black History Month with a bang.’”
Luckily, the threat was a hoax with no injuries reported and things announced to be clear about an hour after the call was made.