COLUMBIA, S.C. — The FBI says it's aware of the false bomb threat at Claflin University but says it's unclear if connected to other such threats made to similar institutions in recent weeks.
Claflin officials say the threat was made Wednesday morning. In response, all campus events were immediately canceled, and all students and faculty were asked to evacuate all academic and administrative buildings.
Campus police, along with Orangeburg Police, the Orangeburg Sheriff's Office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the FBI all joined in the investigation.
After a search of the campus, law enforcement determined there was no bomb on campus and that everyone was safe. They then gave the "all clear" on campus.
The news came on the same day that a bomb threat was reported at Fayetteville State University and Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. Like Claflin, those schools are both historically Black colleges and universities. There were also bomb threats made to other such schools weeks ago.
The FBI says it's too soon to say if the incident at Claflin is connected.to the other threats.
"The FBI takes all threats with the utmost seriousness and we are committed to thoroughly and aggressively investigating these threats," the FBI said in a statement. "We would like to remind members of the public that if they observe anything suspicious or have information about potential threats to report it to law enforcement immediately, call our FBI Columbia field office at (803)551-4200, or submit a tip to tips.fbi.gov."
