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A bomb threat was found written on a banister in a Cumberland Hall stairwell Sunday, Jan. 30. A resident assistant from the building found the threat and alerted the University of Maine Police Department.
The building was evacuated and UMPD began a search of the bathrooms and common areas.
UMPD Chief Roland LaCroix said all common areas of the dorm had been cleared by 4 p.m. Sunday. He said a bomb-sniffing dog was being brought to campus from the Bangor Police Department. By 5:20 p.m., half of Cumberland Hall had been searched and cleared. By 5:58 p.m., students had received a UMaine text alert saying that UMPD “declared Cumberland Hall safe for occupancy.”
“We don’t know how old it was, don’t know how long it was there,” he said, adding that UMPD treated the threat as if it was intended for Sunday afternoon in order to ensure the safety of all UMaine students.
After students were allowed back in the building, LaCroix said the bomb-sniffing dog searched the entire building and only alerted its handler once.
“We did get the alert on one of the rooms,” said LaCroix. “There was a cleaning material or substance used to clean instruments” in one of the dorm rooms, but Cumberland Hall was free of explosives.
“We are definitely going to start interviewing,” LaCroix said. “Once you evacuate a building like that and it’s a threat somebody’s made, it’s a serious incident.”
LaCroix was pleased with the efficacy of UMPD in handling the incident, having orchestrated an evacuation of Cumberland Hall in approximately 10 minutes.
