4:30 P.M. UPDATE:
Students and staff were allowed to return at about 4:15 p.m. to the Arkansas Union on the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville campus after a suspicious package earlier Friday afternoon led authorities to evacuate the building.
Capt. Gary Crain said the package contained wireless equipment used for weather monitoring.
4:05 P.M. UPDATE:
An alert from an ordnance sniffing dog caused an evacuation of the student union Friday afternoon at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, UA police Capt. Gary Crain said.
“We evacuated the union out of an abundance of caution,” Crain said, with police at 1:47 p.m. ordering people to leave the Arkansas Union. He said staff at the union’s mailing center first alerted security after becoming concerned about a package dropped off at the mailing office.
After the dog’s alert, Crain said a regional bomb squad based out of Bentonville responded to the scene. They arrived with specialized equipment to examine the package further.
About two hours later, they were still evaluating the package, Crain said, with the building still evacuated.
“They haven’t come up with any information yet,” Crain said shortly before 4 p.m.
EARLIER:
Authorities have evacuated the student union at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville after the discovery of a suspicious package in the building’s mailroom, UA spokesman Steve Voorhies said.
University police responded first to the report of the package sometime around 2 p.m., Voorhies said.
A regional police bomb squad has responded to examine the package further, Voorhies said. No other building have been evacuated, he said.