Determined to be of no risk by the NIU Police, unrelated bomb threats on Jan. 28 and Feb. 9 on NIU’s main campus did not result in building evacuations or student notification.

NIU officers were alerted of the Jan. 28 bomb threat when a note was found in the main stairway of the Psychology/Computer Science Building. After a search of the building the officers determined the incident to be no threat to any students or faculty in that building, according to the results of a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to NIU Police by the Northern Star.

NIU Police Cmdr. Don Rodman said the bomb threat on Feb. 9 was more of a misunderstanding by someone who was under extreme anxiety. The individual was involuntarily admitted to Kishwaukee Hospital for further evaluation therefore no charges were filed against them.

For nearly eight minutes, a student in Barsema Hall paced back and forth at the front of the class and put their shirt over their head. During this episode the student mistook an item on the door for a bomb. This is when police were alerted and after an immediate search, deemed the incident to be a misunderstanding and there was no threat to anyone in Barsema Hall, according to the results of a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to NIU Police by the Northern Star.

NIU Police were on the scene within 30 seconds on Jan. 28 and within a couple of minutes on Feb. 9, and assessed both to not be an immediate threat to any NIU faculty, staff or students, which is why no evacuations were needed, Rodman said.

“The biggest [factor] is urgency,” Rodman said. “There are also other things taken into consideration [during these procedures] such as how the message was delivered or received.”

Rodman said the protocols to determine severity of bomb threats have been around forever but have been further implemented due to the overall increase of attacks in today’s society.

Rodman could not go further into specifics of the protocol used by the NIU Police for public safety reasons.

Neither of these incidents were related to the Oct. 8, 2015, bomb threat when all campus buildings were evacuated and students who lived on campus were directed to the Convocation Center.

“The [threat] in October was very different from the one that took place in January and February,” Rodman said. “There was a sense of immediacy [in October].”

Rodman said bomb threats have decreased over his 10 years due to increased protocols implemented by NIU’s law enforcement.

In Illinois, a fake bomb threat is a class 3 felony for which a fine of $3,000 to $10,000 shall be assessed in addition to any other penalty imposed.

“Early on in my career [threats] were pretty regular,” Rodman said. “Law enforcement got on top of that and established protocols and procedures to be able to address that and mitigate those. Also to be able to put together an assessment to determine [severity of risk].”

Rodman said the best way of preventing these situations is to immediately report any suspicious activity to the local authority.

NIU Police continues to investigate the Jan. 28 incident. Anyone with information pertaining to the case should contact the NIU Police at 815-753-1212 or anonymously at 815-753-8477.