Tufts University was forced to evacuate and cancel in-person final exams on Thursday because of a bomb threat. It’s the second bomb threat the Massachusetts university has faced in as many days.
University police searched a number of buildings at the university’s Somerville-Medford campus on Thursday morning after recieving the threat, announcing shortly after 1pm that it had not identified any bomb or president risk to students or staff.
Nevertheless, the threat forced Tufts to move most of the day’s final examinations online. The school has kept its dining halls, labratories and libraries open and is encouraging people to resume their normal on campus activities.
On Wednesday, Tufts evacuated three buildings on its Medford campus shortly after 3.30pm after the university’s diversity department and Boston.com recieved an email from a self-identified “multiracial group” blaming Tufts for fostering “anti-white racism” and announcing that it had placed bombs in the three buildings and one outdoor location.
“We placed several bombs in Tufts university, we don’t want anyone to die, we are just here to send a message,” the email read. “Evacuate now.”
Area law enforcement investigated the threat and found that there was no active risk, announcing around 5 pm that the campus community could resume normal activity.
Both bomb threats remain under investigation, with a Tufts spokesperson telling Boston 25 that it does not “have additional information at this time” on the threats.
There has been a marked increase in school shooting and bomb threats across the United States this year, with NPR reporting in late November that one person may have been responsible for more than 100 false active shooter threats in various states.
The threats of attacks on children and young adults in schools and universities come in the midst of a mass shooting the US highlighted this year by the attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
