Columbia University

Bomb Threats Trigger Evacuations at Multiple Ivy League Schools

Shortly before 5 p.m., school officials said the threats were not deemed credible

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Multiple university buildings were evacuated Sunday for reports of bomb threats on a series of Ivy League campuses, including Columbia, Cornell and Brown.

Text message alerts notified students at each of the campuses in the early afternoon hours to the possible threats and instructions to evacuate from a select number of campus buildings.

Columbia University confirmed it received bomb threats around 2:30 p.m. that triggered a campus-wide alert.

NYPD officers were seen patrolling the campus following the first reports of a possible threat. Police officers swept several buildings before declaring them safe.

Shortly before 5 p.m., school officials said the threats were not deemed credible and evacuated buildings were cleared for reentry.

The threats came two days after a Yale University evacuated a large portion of its campus over bomb threats made through a non-emergency line in New Haven. Police gave the all-clear roughly five hours later, around 7 p.m. Friday.

Cornell University similarly confirmed reports of bomb threats to the campus on Sunday, tweeting an advisory to avoid central campus while officials investigate the threats.

A student at Cornell tweeted video of students evacuating Uris Library on campus.

The Brown Daily Herald, the university's student-run paper, also tweeted about students receiving text alerts over a bomb threat.

The university released a statement just before 4:30 p.m. confirming evacuations due to a bomb threat made through a phone call.

Law enforcement officials have yet to link any of the threats.

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