Howard University has been subjected to two bomb threats within the same week.

Tyrone Turner / WAMU/DCist

On Tuesday and early this morning, Howard University received bomb threats, leading students to evacuate and prompting an investigation.

Howard, along with other historically Black colleges and universities around the country, has been subjected to targeted threats since the beginning of the year. These latest two incidents bring the university’s total number of bomb threats this year to eight, and three just this month.

“Our students deserve so much better,” Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Frank Trambles tells DCist/WAMU. “There are people out here that are really trying to stop the mission of Howard University, our mission to educate Black people in America. I think that’s the part that is concerning for us because these are designed to be disruptions.”

Tuesday’s incident began at approximately 10:52 p.m., when a man called in a bomb threat for Cook Hall, a residential building, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. MPD and Howard Police evacuated the building, and MPD’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit responded to the scene and declare the scene clear at around 12:57 a.m. No bombs were found.

Later this morning, another bomb threat targeted the East and West Towers, also residential buildings, at approximately 2:28 a.m. After students were evacuated, MPD’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit cleared the buildings at 5:30 a.m. with nothing found, MPD said.

“It was difficult for me to witness in person students sitting in Banneker Park and heading to trailers on Sherman Avenue and crossing Georgia Avenue on their way to Blackburn Center in their pajamas and sleepwear,” Howard University president Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a statement. “This is terrorism, and it must stop.”

Both incidents are under active investigation by MPD and Howard University Campus Police, MPD said. Investigators have leads on the location of the originating call in this morning’s threat, according to MPD, and the university has been in contact with federal officials assigned to the investigation of similar threats made against Howard and other HBCUs, according to representatives from Howard. Both MPD and the university could not yet confirm whether the incidents were connected.

However, Frederick wants to ensure that the university receives proper support from law enforcement to take these threats seriously. “I want to be clear about the university’s position on the narrative of these threats. This isn’t about resilience and grit,” his statement continues. “We require extra resources from all law enforcement agencies directed towards solving this ongoing threat … I will be speaking to as many law enforcement agencies and elected federal officials as I can to ensure that the gravity of this situation is elevated and prioritized.”

Previously: 

Historically Black Universities Targeted By Bomb Threats On First Day Of Black History Month

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