Spelman College received a bomb threat Tuesday morning, the third such threat this year at the historically Black women’s school.
The bomb threat was called in to the school at 9:53 a.m., officials said. By early afternoon, no device had been found. Authorities conducted a sweep of the campus, located near downtown Atlanta, Spelman spokeswoman Jazmyn Burton said.
The college suspended classes, closed the campus and told students to return to their rooms. All faculty staff and student workers were asked to shelter in place in their work areas.
Spelman received its first bomb threat on Jan. 5 and its second last week. Atlanta police agreed to conduct additional patrols around Spelman and Atlanta’s other historically Black schools.
“We appreciate the active involvement of our local and federal officials,” Spelman’s president, Mary Schmidt Campbell, said in a statement. “We continue to count on them to work with us to add additional protective resources and to step up their investigations into these threats. The students, faculty and staff of Spelman deserve the ability to conduct the college’s mission with calm, confidence, and security. "
About two dozen HBCUs have received bomb threats this year. The FBI has called the threats hate crimes and said last week it is working with 20 field offices nationwide on an investigation.
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