ITHACA, N.Y. (WETM) – Police and SWAT units responded to bomb threats at Cornell, Columbia and Brown universities Sunday.
Cornell University tweeted its first alert around 2 p.m. telling people to avoid multiple buildings. A few hours later, the school said the bomb threat was ongoing and police were sweeping buildings on campus.
Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick said Ithaca Police Department’s SWAT unit responded and that those in the area should monitor campus alerts.
Around the same time, Brown University officials in Providence, Rhode Island, sent a text alert to students that said police were investigating “multiple buildings on campus involving a bomb threat.” Authorities said the buildings were cleared by Sunday evening.
In New York City, Columbia University police issued a campus-wide emergency alert after receiving “bomb threats at University buildings” at about 2:30 p.m. “Following an investigation, the threats were deemed not credible by the NYPD and the campus buildings have been cleared for occupancy,” Columbia said in a statement.
Similar threats have been reported at other U.S. colleges over the past few days, Columbia said. On Friday, a bomb threat at Yale University forced the evacuation of several buildings as well as nearby businesses in New Haven, Connecticut.
Those threats were also deemed not credible.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.