2008 Woodie Awards
Bomb Scare at Thomas Hall
Brian O'Connor
Issue date: 11/10/04 Section: News
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As students unsuspectingly ate their dinner Thursday night, the NYPD and Campus Security scoured empty rooms, trashcans, and hallways of Thomas Hall after receiving a bomb threat earlier in the evening.
Arriving five minutes after receiving a call at 5:30 pm, twelve officers and one lieutenant from the NYPD's 50th Precinct arrived at the school to perform a thorough search of the building after someone called stating there was a bomb on the fourth floor of Thomas Hall. At 5:45, Students and Sodhexo employees in the dining halls were escorted outside the building while police searched the building for signs of suspicious packages and explosives. John Mark, the Director of Residence Life and Eric Sassonett, the manager of Thomas Hall urged people to remain calm, telling them that they could re-enter the building within an hour. In order to keep students and employees calm, the reason behind the evacuation was not announced until later on in the evening. After a thorough search, the hall reopened at 6:00, and students were addressed about the bomb scare.
Of the administrators present during the evacuation, all were impressed with the rapid response of the NYPD. Within five minutes, squad cars arrived on campus from the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, less than 10 blocks away from Manhattan College. Although the police were able to trace the phone call, and security cameras in Thomas Hall could have captured the image of the person placing the call, there are no disclosed suspects at the time.
Dennis McCloskey, the Operating Manager of the hall said of the evacuation, "These days, you have to follow procedure, no matter what the actual risk is. We just want to thank the 50th Precinct for their rapid response after receiving the phone call."
John Mark expressed similar gratitude, saying, "I was impressed that they arrived so soon. I was also very impressed with how the situation went: people acted quickly, everyone cooperated, and campus security did a good job evacuating people from the building."
Arriving five minutes after receiving a call at 5:30 pm, twelve officers and one lieutenant from the NYPD's 50th Precinct arrived at the school to perform a thorough search of the building after someone called stating there was a bomb on the fourth floor of Thomas Hall. At 5:45, Students and Sodhexo employees in the dining halls were escorted outside the building while police searched the building for signs of suspicious packages and explosives. John Mark, the Director of Residence Life and Eric Sassonett, the manager of Thomas Hall urged people to remain calm, telling them that they could re-enter the building within an hour. In order to keep students and employees calm, the reason behind the evacuation was not announced until later on in the evening. After a thorough search, the hall reopened at 6:00, and students were addressed about the bomb scare.
Of the administrators present during the evacuation, all were impressed with the rapid response of the NYPD. Within five minutes, squad cars arrived on campus from the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, less than 10 blocks away from Manhattan College. Although the police were able to trace the phone call, and security cameras in Thomas Hall could have captured the image of the person placing the call, there are no disclosed suspects at the time.
Dennis McCloskey, the Operating Manager of the hall said of the evacuation, "These days, you have to follow procedure, no matter what the actual risk is. We just want to thank the 50th Precinct for their rapid response after receiving the phone call."
John Mark expressed similar gratitude, saying, "I was impressed that they arrived so soon. I was also very impressed with how the situation went: people acted quickly, everyone cooperated, and campus security did a good job evacuating people from the building."