The Kiewit Computation Center was evacuated yesterday afternoon because of a suspicious bag found in a bathroom. This incident constitutes the second widely-known bomb scare at the College this year.
According to Safety and Security officer Warren Cummings, a female employee called Safety and Security at 12:05 p.m. yesterday and reported a suspicious duffel bag on a shelf in a ladies room in Kiewit. Cummings went to Kiewit, secured the area, and called the Hanover Police bomb squad.
Though Cummings said that he did not think the bag was necessarily dangerous, he added "You can't be too careful in this day and age."
The police evacuated the building to more closely inspect the bag. After determining the bag was empty, the police allowed people to return to the building.
"We have no idea why [the bag] was thrown on the shelf the way it was or why it was left there," Cummings said. The entire incident lasted approximately fifteen minutes. Kiewit's Director of User Communications Bill Brawley said that to the best of his knowledge, the incident did not disrupt Kiewit's services.
"It might have disrupted people who had come in to pick up printing or other routine stuff, but I don't think there was any major disruption to our operations," Brawley said.
On February 26 of this year, the Collis Center was evacuated when a birthday scavenger hunt clue was mistaken for a bomb. A Collis employee noticed the suspicious package - a brown paper bag duct-taped to the ceiling of an elevator in the building - and contacted Safety and Security. The Hanover Police bomb squad was contacted as well, and they inspected the elevator until the party participants returned and explained the package.
