Bradley issued a campus-wide alert in response to a threatening handwritten note found in Olin Hall at approximately 4 p.m. on Wednesday. An update was sent out close to 6 p.m. that evening saying the threat had passed.
In response to the threat, Bradley stationed police throughout Olin Hall and increased patrols on campus.
“Each entrance and exit at Olin Hall are manned with police,” university spokesperson Renee Charles said on Wednesday evening. “They are checking people as they come in and out of that building, going through their personal belongings, to ensure that everyone is safe in there. We have Bradley police, as well as the sheriff’s department, we also have Peoria city police who are helping us.”
According to Bradley University police chief Brian Joschko, the incident was reported to the Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center (STIC) in Springfield. He said STIC is referred to as a fusion center, meaning there are representatives from different agencies.
“When you report an incident to them, by default, it’s also reported to other agencies,” Joschko said. “Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Illinois State police … and the list goes on. And that’s the appropriate notification process as far as alerting others as what the situation is.”
In the alert and according to Joschko, the threat was deemed not-credible, but the university chose to err on the side of caution to ensure campus safety.
“It was not campus-wide, and there’s no reason to believe that there’s any danger to the campus whatsoever,” Joschko said. “We did not find this to be a credible threat in the first place. The response was much more out of abundance of caution than anything else.”
No arrest has been made as of Thursday, and the police continue to investigate.
“We continue to conduct interviews of witnesses … that may have some knowledge of this,” Joschko said.
Anyone with information concerning the incident is encouraged to contact Bradley police at 309-677-2000 or Peoria police at 309-673-4521.
The following section is the original version of this article published at 5:43 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.
Safety alert issued in response to a potential threat at Olin Hall
Approximately 4 p.m. on Wednesday Bradley issued a campus-wide alert in response to a potential threat to Olin Hall.
According to Bradley’s spokesperson Renee Charles, the university was alerted by a handwritten note found in a restroom in Olin Hall.
“The letter was found in Olin Hall, and it threatened violence in that building this evening. While our investigation has deemed this to be a non-credible threat, we are not taking this lightly,” Charles said.
Multiple squad cars from Bradley and Peoria police departments, as well as Peoria County Sheriff’s Department, are visible throughout the campus.
“Each entrance and exit at Olin Hall is manned with police. They are checking people as they come in and out of that building. Going through their personal belongings, to ensure that everyone is safe in there,” Charles said. “We have Bradley police, as well as the sheriff’s department, we also have Peoria city police who are helping us.”
Charles said even though the note is deemed non-credible, the university is notifying the campus and taking all appropriate steps to ensure campus safety.
“We are going to err on the side of caution and take all appropriate steps to make sure our campus faculty, staff, students and everyone involved on our campus community are safe,” Charles said. “All of our classes are actually going on as scheduled this evening.”
