Dean receives Bryan Hall bomb threat via e-mail

Police officers were dispatched to Bryan Hall Sunday after being notified of a bomb threat, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said. \nAround 10 a.m., a dean in the building received a threatening e-mail mentioning a bomb around Bryan Hall, a building where the University president and other administrators work.\nPolice officers restricted entrance to the building and began searching for traces of a bomb, Minger said. \nBefore notifying professional bomb squads, Minger said IUPD wanted to do a search to investigate the validity of the threat. The bomb squad was never dispatched to the site.\nSince the bomb threat occurred via e-mail, police are using the Information Technology Security Office to track down the origin of the e-mail, Minger said.\nShortly after noon, occupants were able to return to the building. Then, police, working with IT, determined that universities in other states – Iowa, Illinois and Pennsylvania – received similar messages.\nThe interstate messages were all sent using anonymous portals and compromised computers.\n“We are still continuing to try and determine where the person is or the computer that is originating the messages,” Minger said. “It does seem hopeful. At this point we don’t want to narrow our possibilities as to what it might be.”\nMinger said the police would like to pinpoint the exact origin of the threat and figure out why these messages were sent.\n“To make a bomb threat or to send any harassment of communication is a violation of the law,” he said.