Multiple North Central Florida colleges receive bomb threats

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Police are investigating bomb threats at multiple colleges around North Central Florida. Some closed their campus as a result.

Employees and students were forced to evacuate two of Santa Fe College’s satellite campuses in Alachua and Starke.

That also includes Florida Gateway College in Columbia County and Central Florida Ocala Campus.

Columbia County deputies say a person called 911 reporting a bomb threat at Florida Gateway College around 3:00 pm.

“We had about three classes in specific buildings that we had evacuated, along with academic offices. So, we had to evacuate those specific areas. The officer in charge and me decided to evacuate the entire campus,” said Dr. Lawrence Barrett, President of Florida Gateway College.

After law enforcement searched multiple areas, a bomb was not found. Nobody is hurt or injured. All classes and activities were cancelled due to the threat. They are expected to resume tomorrow.

“Our campus is safe, and we did everything we needed to do. We will continue to do that regardless. We must always ensure the safety of our students and staff is first on that campus,” said Dr. Barrett.

The threats made to Santa Fe College’s Alachua and Starke campuses were a hoax, along with the Central Florida Ocala campus.

Many HBCUs across the country received bomb threats in February. One of those schools was Bethune Cookman in Daytona beach.

In South Florida, City College Hollywood and two campuses at Eastern Florida State College received bomb threats on Wednesday.

This week multiple schools in Virginia received bomb threats.

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