DPS responds to bomb threat

In response to a potential bomb threat, Penn Police secured the area around Meyerson Hall — Penn’s School of Design building — Saturday morning, according to Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush.

At around10:45 a.m., an AlliedBarton security officer observed a male acting in a “strange manner” around Meyerson, Rush said. The male left a briefcase outside the entrance of the building, prompting the security officer to notify the Division of Public Safety, she added.

Penn Police and the Philadelphia bomb squad determined that there was no bomb in the briefcase and that it posed no danger, according to Rush.

Penn Police also evacuated Meyerson Hall in “an abundance of caution,” and additional officers arrived on scene, according to DPS spokesperson Stef Karp.

The male was identified as a former graduate student at Penn who DPS had “prior contact” with, Rush said.

The male was taken into custody Saturday as he was “acting peculiar … [flailing] his arms and talking incoherently,” upon being interviewed by police, Rush said. The individual was then involuntarily committed into a nearby mental health facility for 72 hours. Caution tape was put up, enclosing the area between Meyerson, Fisher Fine Arts Library and College Hall. However, only Meyerson was evacuated.

Students were cleared to re-enter the building at around 12:10 p.m.

College senior Monika Wasik was walking toward Fisher but was blocked by a police officer.

“I asked someone in the crowd what was going on, and they pointed to a black briefcase sitting in the middle of the porch in front of Meyerson and said there had been a bomb threat,” she wrote in an email.

PennDesign graduate student Paul Caine was in the basement of Meyerson working on a project with other team members. When they were forced to evacuate, he relocated to Fisher to continue working.

“The word on the street was that there was a threat of some sort,” he said.

From the top floor of Fisher, Caine shot a video of police opening the suitcase. “They approached it, poked it and took out a kit,” he said.

However, students did not seem to be panicked. “Everyone was pretty laid-back, and no one seemed particularly worried,” Caine said.

Wasik added that she “didn’t really believe it was anything dangerous, though.”

Some students expressed concern that the community did not receive an alert from DPS notifying them of potential danger. The bomb threat and robberies that have occurred during this past semester have given voice to student disapproval of the current alert system.

“To be honest, I was a bit surprised we didn’t see one,” College sophomore Elie Peltz said. “I think it’s fair for me to know what’s going on.”

In an earlier interview, Rush had clarified that a UPennAlert is sent out on a “need-to-know basis.” If DPS had the situation under control, an alert will not necessarily be issued, she said.

“I want to be informed about what relates to my own security, even if there’s no longer a risk,” Peltz said.

DPS maintains that the purpose of the alert system is not to notify students of all incidents that occur on campus, but only those that pose an active threat to campus. “The UPennAlert is not about information,” Rush said. “As long as there’s no ongoing threat we’re not going to use the UPennAlert.”

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