Bomb threat at the University of Windsor

By Danielle Gagnier

Students in two buildings at the University of Windsor were told to evacuate after a bomb threat was reported.

Erie Hall and Lambton Tower were evacuated at approximately 2 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12 after a bomb threat was issued by campus police. There were approximately 600 students that were evacuated from the two buildings.

An email was sent out from UWindsor Alert to every student attending the university as a precautionary measure telling all students to either evacuate or remain away from that portion of the campus until further notice.

“From what we’ve heard, they utilized their social media and other avenues and were able to communicate to the students and get them out of the buildings,” said Constable Andrew Drouillard, of the Windsor Police Service. “It was the University of Windsor that decided to evacuate the buildings and we just assisted them along with campus police.”

Drouillard said WPS were on the scene to assist in investigating the threat and to ensure both buildings were clear.

“We utilized our K9 officer and his dog, which is equipped to detect explosives,” Drouillard said. “It took approximately two hours and we cleared both buildings and were satisfied there was no threat.”

According to campus police, the evacuation went smoothly. Everyone who was in the buildings at this time cooperated with the campus police. There were no complaints about the evacuation, but there were many calls from worried students and parents afterwards concerning the threat.

“They told everyone to go home,” said Eddie Obasohan, a student attending class in Erie Hall when the bomb threat was issued.  “There were cop cars everywhere. They wouldn’t let us near the building. They had caution tape blocking it.”

The buildings were cleared by 5 p.m. after nothing was found. Police are continuing to investigate the threat to obtain further information.