Hazmat Fire Truck and Dallas Police Explosive Ordnance Unit came to Fondren Library after police were called about suspicious package

Nusaiba Mizan and Caroline Waters

April 10, 2019

UPDATE: The Daily Campus has received a statement from the university stating that after The Dallas Police Department Explosive Ordinance Unit responded and examined the suspicious package in question, they determined that the item was not hazardous.

Editor’s Note: The quotes in this story have been edited for clarity.

Police were called after a suspicious package was found in Fondren Library. It is now safe to go back into Fondren Library.

John Graham, who works at the IT desk, said, “So, a person came up to the desk and said, ‘Hey could y’all come and take a look at this suspicious thing that we found in the bathroom. We already called the police.’ And we were like, ‘Um, okay sure.’ We took a look at it. It was a water bottle with some tissue in it.”

“They called the cops over it. And then the SMU Police Department pulled the alarm over it. And now we’re here,” Anthony Wang said.

Student Tommy Boatman was working in the library. “Next thing I know I’m being ushered out for being the last to leave. I thought it was a three-minute fire alarm. Apparently it was a suspicious package. And now I’m fuming,” Boatman said.

“I don’t think anybody knew what it was until 20 minutes when we were outside,” Boatman said. He estimates they were evacuated somewhere between 5:25 p.m. to 5:35 p.m.”