Anonymous caller makes bomb threats on campus

"The caller was identified as a female voice with an accent," said Felipe Garza, Director of the Campus Police Department in regards to the individual who recently called in bomb threats on campus.Campus Police are still investigating in hope of catching the individual responsible for the bomb threat calls. "We are working on it," said Garza.The suspect, when caught, will face a charge of Terroristic Threat, a 3rd degree felony, and when convicted, he/she will face a $10,000 fine, 2-10 years in prison, or both.The bomb threats started Tuesday, Sept 23 at 9:06am. The first call was made to the Business Office regarding a bomb threat at the gym. Since the caller didn't specify which gym, both gyms had to be evacuated. Apparently, a call had also been made to the Kinesiology and Wellness Recreation Center (KWRC). Robert Garza, a Business Administration major and two-year manager at the KWRC, answered the call. After answering, Robert understood, "There is a bomb in the Rec., and it's going to blow up." Although Robert thought this might be a joke, he took action on a call that can also be very serious. "I was in the process of calling Juan Garza [Associate Director of KWRC] when a TAMIU cop came in and asked me to help them evacuate the building," said Robert. "We evacuated, and it took us no longer than five minutes to get everyone out through the main entrance," said Jerry Soto, a Fitness Instructor/Trainer at the KWRC.Campus Police then entered and made sure there was no bomb. Garza said, "We searched both buildings and did not find anything suspicious."A third call came in on Thursday, Sept 25 at 9:02am. This call was made to the Admission's Office and no specific building was mentioned; therefore, no buildings had to be evacuated due to precautions taken by the University following the initial threats. "It's unfortunate that we have to disrupt our student's learning, but it's best that we are prepared and take precautions," said Garza. Christina Criel, a senior and English major, was one of the students evacuated from the KWRC, for she was there to attend her aerobics class.She said, "What if there was a bomb; couldn't they have warned us through Dusty Alert?"Garza said that Campus Police are not qualified to dismantle a bomb. However, if suspicious activity was found, they would then contact the City of Laredo Police Department Bomb Detection Team. Garza said, "They [Laredo Bomb Detection Team] have a bomb dog, and if they did find a bomb, then an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team from San Antonio would be called to [dismantle] the bomb."Although the suspect has not been caught, Garza does say that he/she will face serious consequences, for this is not a joking matter and something students can learn from."The Texas A&M System Chancellor is very adamant about security on campus; he will not tolerate any threats to any of the System Universities," said Garza.If the suspect is also a student, then he/she will be expelled from the university. Soto added, "We are not in High School, and joking about bombs is not funny, for it is a very serious matter."There have been no more bomb threats made, and Campus Police not only continues to protect everyone on campus, but they also continue the search for the caller. They have coordinated the investigation with Federal and State law enforcement agencies."While we can't get into specifics about the investigation since it's an active investigation, we can say that we have been assisted by telephone carriers using their latest technological advances in trying to determine who made the threatening phone calls to the University. When the caller is identified, the University will aggressively seek prosecution of any individual(s) making threats to the University," Garza said.For more information regarding the bomb threats, feel free to call the University Police Department at extension 2100 or visit their website: http://www.tamiu.edu/adminis/police/safety.htm