Bomb threats made against several historically Black colleges in Little Rock and North Little Rock prompted at least one campus to temporarily shift to remote instruction.
Philander Smith College, 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive in Little Rock, posted about the threat shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Twitter, saying the campus would shift to remote instruction until noon. Officials urged its residential students to stay in their dorms “until further notice.”
Local and federal authorities issued an “all-clear” by noon Tuesday, the college confirmed in a separate Twitter post. Officials lifted the lockdown, and classes and operations resumed, the college said.
A Little Rock police dispatch log shows a bomb threat reported at Philander Smith just at about 1:35 a.m.
According to a police report, a caller claiming to be a neo-Nazi told authorities he set C4 plastic explosive charges at Philander Smith College and another college nearby — which police believed to be Arkansas Baptist College, 1600 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. — and a bomb in a white van at Shorter College, 604 N. Locust St. in North Little Rock, the report states.
Because the person called the non-emergency line, communications were unable to ping the location of the call, police said.
Security at Philander Smith College told officers they did not locate any suspicious packages. They also didn’t find any opened or unsecured doors or windows, the report states.
The search was called off and no further action was taken, according to the report.
The city’s fire department and bomb squad were notified of the call. However, the bomb squad stated they would not respond unless security or police located something, police said in the report.
The Little Rock Fire Department’s policy states that any time there’s a violent or insecure element to a call, police first secure the scene before fire department personnel provide aid, department Chief Delphone Hubbard said early Tuesday afternoon.
Hubbard said the fire department’s bomb squad responds to all of Central Arkansas.
The department had not had any conversations with the historically black colleges as of Tuesday afternoon, though Hubbard said such conversations were forthcoming.
FBI Little Rock spokesperson Connor Hagan said the FBI "is aware of the series of bomb threats around the country, including three here in Arkansas." He added that the agency reminds residents to report anything suspicious to local law enforcement.
Tuesday marks the first day of Black History Month, but the post didn’t indicate whether officials believe the threats were made to coincide with the date.
Police spokesperson Mark Edwards said Tuesday authorities hadn’t determined a motive in the threats. However, the police department needed to take the threats seriously and investigate thoroughly, he said.
Check back for further information.
CORRECTION: Little Rock police spokesperson Mark Edwards said on Tuesday authorities hadn’t determined a motive in the threats. An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated the date of Edwards' statement.