PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) - A phoned-in bomb threat forced Princeton University to shutter its campus for several hours Tuesday, but it later reopened after an extensive search by law enforcement officials turned up no explosives.
The school received the threat against multiple buildings around 9 a.m. and decided to evacuate just before 10:30 a.m., Princeton spokesman Martin Mbugua said, noting that officials at the New Jersey Ivy League university took that time to assess the threat.
Nearly 7,000 students, faculty and university workers were evacuated from the campus and off-campus buildings. Faculty and staff were sent home, while students were told to go to nearby public places.
The evacuation order then remained in place for nearly eight hours as the university's Public Safety department worked with multiple law enforcement agencies to sweep numerous campus buildings with bomb-sniffing dogs.
Princeton issued a statement saying the bomb threat was one of a number of threats around the country Tuesday. But a university spokesman said he was unaware of anything linking them.
No classes were in session Tuesday, though some summer programs were.