Dallas Police arrived on campus today around noon to investigate what they call a “suspicious package” located outside of Fondren Library Center on campus.

After an investigation by Dallas Police and a bomb squad team, local Police cleared the area and announced that there was no remaining threat on campus.

According to Circulation Desk Supervisor Cindy Olson, the “suspicious package” was a tape-covered bucket located on the west-side entrance of the library for a little more than a year.

“You know we have cats on campus, I always thought that someone had made a makeshift little cathouse for one of the cats,” Olson said. “But I could never see the other side to see if there’s a hole in it.”

Someone noticed the bucket today and reported it to the local authorities.

Olson and other library staff members tried to tell them that the item was there for about a year, but police and SMU administrators stated that they had to follow protocol on this matter.

At about 12:45 p.m. local authorities left SMU’s campus and announced that there was no longer a threat in the area.