'All clear' after NIU bomb threat

Northern Illinois University's Health Services building was evacuated Thursday after a bomb threat, which prompted officials to activate the emergency alert system on the DeKalb campus.

The threat was reported at 2 p.m. and called off about two hours later after police, aided by an explosive-sniffing dog, twice searched the building, said Joe King, a university spokesman.

"Everything's all clear," King said.

The threat was written on a piece of paper in a stairwell in the Health Services building on the east side of campus, said university spokeswoman Melanie Magara.

Seventy-five people were evacuated from the building because of the note, which said a bomb would go off in the building, Magara said.

The university had a responsibility to thoroughly check out a threat of such a specific nature, Magara said.

"But we also have this responsibility to get things back to normal and reassure people and get the word out that it's all clear and everything's fine," she said. "That's on any campus -- particularly this one."

The threat comes in the aftermath of the Feb. 14 shooting rampage in which a former NIU graduate student killed five students before fatally shooting himself.

Across the Midwest, several schools were closed this week because of threatening graffiti.

"You're afraid to send your kids to school." said Cindy Somodji of Palatine, who learned about the threat via a frantic call from her daughter, Danielle Chobak, an NIU graduate student. "It used to be drugs and rock 'n' roll -- now you've got to think about death and them not coming home."

The school counseling and development center in the Campus Life building was set to stay open until 8 p.m. for students who wanted to talk about the incident, according to a statement on the university Web site.

The Health Services building reopened about 4 p.m. There were no plans to cancel classes.

The response to the threat also prompted police to block pedestrian and vehicle traffic around the Health Services building, at Lucinda Avenue and Normal Road.

The adjacent public safety and telecommunications offices also were evacuated.

Occupants of nearby buildings were told to stay away from rooms facing the Health Services building while the threat was investigated.

Yet, for many students, life went on as usual as they soaked up the afternoon sun, played ultimate Frisbee, rode bikes, jogged and caught up with each other.

A circling helicopter and television news cameras were the only way you'd know something was up on this otherwise picturesque day.

Because classes went on as scheduled and officials weren't in crisis mode, senior Katie Morby said it was easy for her to relax.

She was also sure there wasn't another on-campus shooting or a similar situation because lightning rarely strikes the same spot twice.

"I think because something happened here, this terrible tragedy, it's harder to believe something will happen again on top of that," she said.

But for freshman Samantha Brunell, the day was an unfortunate case of déjà vu, because she found out about the bomb threat via text message during geology class.

It was the same class she'd been in on Valentine's Day when a gunman opened fire and killed five of her classmates.

Brunell, a reporter for the NIU student newspaper, the Northern Star, said the culprit needs to understand that his or her actions were insensitive and "ridiculous."

"I wish they would have been in my shoes that day because they would understand it's not funny at all," she said.