At least two historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) received bomb threats on Tuesday, the first day of Black History Month, with both Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Morgan State University in Baltimore reporting threats, according to NBC BLK.
Howard University issued a shelter-in-place order early Tuesday — just a day after the school and several other historically Black colleges and universities received similar threats.
“A bomb threat against the university is being investigated,” an alert from Howard University said. “All persons on campus are advised to shelter in place until more information is available.”
The emergency alert was timestamped at 3:29 a.m. Tuesday, the first day of Black History Month. Morgan State also issued a shelter-in-place order after receiving a bomb threat early Tuesday morning.
A spokesperson for the university said the school had received the threat at about 4:50 a.m.
“Authorities were notified and a shelter-in-place order was made for the entire campus community,” they said, asserting that access to the campus was closed for the day, with all classes switching to remote learning.
The spokesperson said Morgan State police were working with emergency personnel and other law enforcement to access the situation and conduct a “campus-wide, building-by-building search.”
As both schools responded to the threat, police were also seen investigating near the University of the District of Columbia, according to NBC Washington. A spokesperson for the school, also a historically Black university, said officials were still gathering information on the incident before commenting.
