Bathroom Wall Threat Shuts Midwest Schools

2 Colleges Resume Classes After Doomsday Message Found, University Still Closed

(AP)  Two colleges returned to normal class schedules after a promised doomsday scrawled in graffiti came and went without incident, but at least one university remained closed as administrators weighed the seriousness of the threats.

Administrators told students and nonessential personnel to remain off campus Tuesday at St. Xavier University in Chicago. A message in a bathroom reading "Be prepared to die on 4/14" resulted in empty campuses Monday not only at the college, but at four nearby elementary and high schools.

Unlike St. Xavier, administrators at Chicago's Malcolm X College and Michigan's Oakland University decided to resume classes on Tuesday.

Malcolm X evacuated students and canceled daytime classes Monday after a similar threat was found in a campus bathroom. And administrators closed Oakland University because of threatening graffiti mentioning April 14.

"We feel it is safe to return to normal operations Tuesday," Oakland University Chief of Police Sam Lucido said in a statement.

The closures - just two days before the anniversary of the Virginia Tech killings and exactly two months after the deadly rampage at Northern Illinois University - illustrate a major challenge facing school administrators, who have to decide just how seriously to take such threats.

Security events have become commonplace in the educational sphere, said Oakland University spokesman Ted Montgomery.

"It's just part of the deal these days," he said.

St. Xavier University and Malcolm X College are located about 15 miles apart, and despite what was described as "basically" the same wording in the threats, there was no indication the incidents were related, according to Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

The graffiti at St. Xavier - the second of two threats found since April 5 - was widely publicized over the weekend, and also contained in updates the college placed on its Web site.

While St. Xavier decided Friday to close its campuses until further notice, classes at Malcolm X resumed late Monday afternoon. Bond said bomb-sniffing dogs from the Chicago Police Department were taken through Malcolm X, but campus police made the final decision about when to open campus.

Oakland University, an 18,000-student state university located about 20 miles north of Detroit, planned to resume classes Tuesday.

The graffiti that prompted its shutdown also made a reference to "4/14" but didn't threaten a specific type or time of an attack, Montgomery said.

School administrators' decisions about handling threats can be made easier by having a plan in place should a crisis arise, said Larry Consalvos, senior vice president at iXP Corp., a security consulting firm which works with universities on campus safety.

Knowing how they'll deal with the chain of command, first responders, communication and alarm systems is vital, Consalvos said, and allows administrators to decide "is it prudent to move forward and have classes in session, or might it be better to shut down for a few days?"

"I don't think you can be cavalier about the seriousness of any threat," Consalvos said.

In Chicago, two elementary schools and two high schools near St. Xavier canceled classes Monday after a Saturday morning meeting between school officials and the Chicago Police Department.

The fact that the threat mentioned a certain date helped administrators at Evergreen Park Southwest Elementary decide to shut down, said district superintendent Craig Fiegel. Other schools in the district - located in the village of Evergreen Park, next to Chicago - canceled outdoor recess and PE classes Monday.

Still, Fiegel called such violent graffiti "the new bomb threat," remembering a time in the 1960s when bomb threats were regularly used to close down institutions.

And he worries the closures could encourage other people who get a kick out of causing chaos.

"At what point is it serious and at what point do you have to go on with it?" Fiegel said.

At Malcolm X College on Monday afternoon, Edelena Lee was one of a number of students arriving for class who had not heard of the threat, or that the school had been locked down.

Despite disappointment that she may have wasted a trip to campus, she had no problem with the decision to close the school.

"I think people have issues nowadays," said Lee, 30. "You can never be too cautious."

ianlou, I did hear about that one, and I sure do hope it wasnt just urban legend

[usbrit-2009]

Ranger - I hope you''re still on. Thanks for the reply and for understanding my point. It does seem to me though that those who carry concealed weapons should be up to the task of killing someone if neccesary - how come they''re not.

BTW - I see from past posts you live in Thailand. In doing some research on gun use I found Thailand was #3 in the world for murder rate. Whta are the gun laws over there?

[ranger1948]

clew37
During the time of our forefathers every Tom , *** and Whacko was in the militia.

[ianlou]

Hear about the Janitor who gather high school girls into the bath room to show them how hard it was to clean lipstick off the mirror?
It seems the girls had been kissing the mirror to remove excess lipstick while applying their makeup and the complaints of the janitor was falling on deaf ears so the janitor decides to show them. He dips a scrub brush into the toilet and he starts scrubbing the mirror with it. Problem solved.

[ranger1948]

usbrit
I can see your point of logic, but unless a person is trained to apprehebnd a fugitive no police department will reccommend that they try to do so. Owning a gun for protection is one thing. When you actually have to use it , it is a whole new ball game. A lot of people think it is like on tv. When you actually have someone at gunpoint it suddenly becomes reality and a numbner of citizens simply are notup to the task.

[usbrit-2009]

Put down your Coffee and read the above CBS article
"Bad Obama" OBAMA is Finished when CBS decides to let it Jounalists write the truth.

SORRY OF TOPIC BUT I THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT

Posted by Obama8years

This was not CBS Journalism, it''s NRO journalism - I''ll believe the National Enquirer before I belive a neocon bought and paid for rag like that.

[obama8years]

cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/11/ opinion/main4009369.shtml

or click on opinion and then the "bad barack"

Put down your Coffee and read the above CBS article
"Bad Obama" OBAMA is Finished when CBS decides to let it Jounalists write the truth.

SORRY OF TOPIC BUT I THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT

[usbrit-2009]

Pretty much every semester during my time in gard school at So Cal someone called in a bomb threat to close the building their final exam was in. We''d all troop out, campus police would do a quick search and we''d all go back in. I''m sure stuff like this happens all over the country around finals. Did anyone check on who had important exams on the days mentioned?

[usmcvn2]

Wow, want a day off school?? Just write on the chit house wall.

[usmcvn2]

".Hell I can go down the street and buy a gun if I want,from the bad guys. "

Posted by Swwils


Where?? I need more guns. And how do I know who the bad guys as "I go down the street".

A sad thing is that a prankster writes on a wall and
all the american women and girliemen want to take everybodys guns. The new american way PUNISHMENT OF THE MASS''!

The Peoples Republic of the United States, just like the Peoples Republic of N,Korea, Vietnam, China, ect.,ect.,

[luxurytax-2009]

I CANT BELIEVE THAT THE THREAT WAS TOO UNIMPORTANT FOR THE SCHOOLS TO BE SHUT DOWN.GOOD GOING AMERICA

[usbrit-2009]

Guns Defensively Used (GDU''s) a highly contraversial statistic. Estimates range from 82,000 to over 1 million per year. Now assuming that gun owners want bad guys off the streets and assuming that all GDU''s result froman assault where the perp is using a gun, why then does this not mean 82,000 at least dead perps. All these gun owners say they use guns for protection and use the Wild West "Ah''ll blow the (insert the invective)''s brains aht," but the numbers show they don''t. Why not? Hell in FL you just have to FEEL threatened to shoot the bad guy (or a neighbor or the Postman if they''re having a bad day). Why aren''t there dead perps littering the streets all over the country if GDU''s are this common?

[usbrit-2009]

Arguing about the 2nd amendment has nothing to do with the nuts running loose.If you take away the good peoples right to protect themselves,then the only gun carriers in this country would be the cops,and the bad guys.Hell I can go down the street and buy a gun if I want,from the bad guys.

Posted by Swwils

If you know where the bad guys selling guns are report them to the police. I love all the "responsible gun owners" who are happy to defend themselves, but then let the punks go. You want crime off the streets carry a cell phone with your precious gun, keep the gun pointed at the perps and call the cops - don''t let them run away to kill again another day.

[luxurytax-2009]

I CANT BELIEVE SELECT SCOOLS WOULD NOT SHUT DOWN THEIR SERVICES BECAUSE THEY DIDNT BELIEVE FOR THIS THREAT TO BE ALARMING.IF AN INCIDENT WOULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE THEN OFFICIALS WOULD HAVE BEEN ON TV CRYING AND TRYING TO BLAME IT ON SOMEONE ELSE.U GUYS SURE SHOW HOW MUCH U CARE ABOUT THE SAFETY OF OUR CHILDREN,I BET IF ONE OF THEIR KIDS WENT TO ONE OF THE SCHOOLS IT WOULD BE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY.GOOD GOING AMERICA

[swwils]

The Supreme Court just ruled about 3 weeks ago on the gun issue.We the People have a right to bear arms.They also said each state,and city have the right to make the laws within their communities who,and how they can carry them.We do have the right to keep them at home that is for sure.

[swwils]

Arguing about the 2nd amendment has nothing to do with the nuts running loose.If you take away the good peoples right to protect themselves,then the only gun carriers in this country would be the cops,and the bad guys.Hell I can go down the street and buy a gun if I want,from the bad guys.

[swwils]

The college that remained closed,I give you props.Everyone else seems to take these threats lightly.When some idiot actually executes their threat then it will be too late.

[fibonacci_]

stupidrules3, then you shouldnt have a problem with me carrying my RPG to the mall for protection.

[carlylaine]

What a bunch of chickens....gads

[rafterman1]

Actually, the amendment reads:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

What it actually means (people or militia) has been argued for two centuries and the truth is, we don''t know for sure what the founding fathers meant as there is evidence to swing both ways.