Pitt receives first bomb threat since end of April

Following a month-long hiatus, Pitt received another bomb threat last week, four days before… This story was updated on May 22 at 11:30 p.m.

Following a month-long hiatus, Pitt received another bomb threat last week, four days before Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey brought the issue of campus security before the U.S. Senate.

A press release from Casey’s office on Monday cited a bomb threat to Pitt’s Oakland campus last Friday as additional justification for a piece of national legislation aimed at promoting safety and security on college campuses.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said that no threat occurred on Friday. However, on Thursday, May 17, Pitt Police responded to a bomb threat at the Cost Sports Center and Towerview Garage at UPMC Presbyterian hospital. Fedele said in an email on Monday that the threat affected both UPMC and Pitt.

“The notification went to city of Pittsburgh police through the 911 system, phoned in by a UPMC employee who received the threat at the guard booth for the Towerview Garage, a Pitt-owned facility that is operated by UPMC,” Fedele said in the email. “The threat was made against that facility and the Cost Center, a Pitt sports complex. The city police responded, and the Pitt police assisted. The building was searched, and no bomb was found.”

Unlike many of the more than 140 bomb threats the University received since February, this one inconvenienced very few, if any, students.

“The Cost Center wasn’t being used and there were very few cars in the garage at the time,” Fedele said in the same email.

Speaking on Monday evening, UPMC spokesman Paul Wood said he was not aware of a bomb threat to UPMC.

“The only threat we are aware of from last week was at a University of Pittsburgh facility,” Wood said.

No ENS alert went out following the threat.

“ENS is designed to alert the campus community of an imminent emergency that impacts a substantial portion of the campus population,” Fedele said in an email. “[T]he Cost center wasn’t in use, and the garage had few cars in it last Thursday when the threat was received.”

Earlier, in a telephone interview, Fedele said, “in this instance, because of the localized nature of the threat, it was not necessary to send the alert.”

John Rizzo, a spokesperson for Casey, said in an interview Monday that the press release from Casey’s office incorrectly cited Friday as the day of the threat, and that the proper date of the threat was Thursday. He added that Casey’s office cited a report by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review regarding the location of the threat.

“There was a bomb threat tonight on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland,” the Tribune-Review article, published on Thursday, May 17, at 10:02 p.m., said.

Casey’s office sent out a press release on Monday stating the senator’s approval of the CAMPUS Safety Act, a piece of legislation first introduced after the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech that would enable the U.S. Department of Justice to establish a new “National Center for Campus Public Safety.”

“What has happened at Pitt over the last few months is simply unacceptable, and Congress must take steps to help schools respond,” Casey said in the press release. “Pitt’s entire team, from administrators to professors and first responders, has done incredible work under trying circumstances, but they shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

The $2.75 million center, to be paid for by the Office of Dispute Resolution, would provide resources and support to colleges and universities during periods of security threats.

“The center would enable colleges and universities to enhance officer training, conduct relevant research, develop protocols to respond to emergencies, and increase collaboration between campus law enforcement agencies,” the statement from Casey’s office said.