BUFFALO, N.Y. — SUNY Buffalo State University Police have cleared the campus of any credible threat after a lockdown Thursday morning failed to produce any evidence of concern.
In an update shared around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, UPD said they and their law enforcement partners will continue to actively investigate the matter, however.
According to University Police, the college received the threat around 10:45 a.m., and the campus was closed shortly after, and students were told to go to their residence halls.
Classes were also canceled for the remainder of the day, as well as for Friday. Classes will resume after spring break on Monday, April 4.
"Only critical-essential employees, after consultation with their supervisors, should report to campus tomorrow, Friday, March 25," the school added.
The school said all other employees should consult with their supervisors about possible remote work arrangements as well.
Police said during a press conference Thursday afternoon that the bomb threat involved several buildings on campus, but they did not specify which ones. After the threat was cleared later in the evening, students were allowed to leave their residence halls. However, meals were still delivered to students.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to cancel classes for the rest of the day so we can investigate those threats. We had multiple agencies respond. Local, state, and federal agencies that responded to determine the threat and it is still an active investigation at this time," said Amy M. Pedlow, interim chief of University Police.
Pedlow would not comment on how police found out about the threat; whether it was called in or something found on social media is unknown.
"Was it a phone call? Was it a text? Was it social media?" asked 2 On Your Side's Kelly Dudzik.
"I'm not comfortable with releasing that information as it still is an active investigation," Pedlow said.
"But whatever was in the threat was enough to trigger your response and take it seriously," Dudzik said.
"Absolutely," Pedlow responded.
Commuter students were told to leave the campus for the day and all non-essential employees were dismissed. Those who were unable to leave campus were told to go to the Sports Arena. Horns blared on campus as students and staff were asked to evacuate. This video posted on Facebook was sent to 2 On Your Side:
Some on social media and in Buffalo State student government questioned what was relayed to students and how effective it was?
Jimmy Speaker, the President of the United Students Government said a reoccurring issue with campuswide emails going to students' spam folders occurred once again Thursday, which left some blind to the warning.
He said this was the second time this issue occurred in the past two months. The other time was when Buffalo State was asked to shelter in place after an incident at nearby McKinley High School.
"We provided a lot of feedback after that McKinley incident saying, Hey, these are some issues that happen. These are some issues that students had that were raised to me. And those issues were largely not addressed," said Speaker.
SUNY Buffalo State did send out six text messages and email alerts. Each one of those warnings was also posted on the Buffalo State homepage. According to an email shared with 2 On Your Side, questions about the campus' shelter in place and evacuation policies were also relayed to student affairs after the McKinley incident, on top of the spam issue. However, those policies are readily available on the campus website.
If there is a next time, Speaker just hopes that communication is only improved.
"You know start to respect USG in a sense in reaching out to us at least provide the president and vice president with a briefing for students who come to us feeling threatened, endangered they can at least reach out to us."
Buffalo State also continues to encourage anyone on campus and parents to register for their BUFF STATE Alert system especially if they felt like they were lacking information Thursday.
Students and staff are encouraged to call investigators if they might have information regarding the threat. University Police can be reached at (716) 878-6333. You can also leave a message on the University Police anonymous tip line at (716) 878-3166.
Several campus services remained closed Thursday night after the "all clear" was given. Buffalo State said that "the Campbell Student Union and Dining Services would reopen, Friday, March 25" and normal operations for all employees would resume on Monday, March 28.