A suspicious letter accidentally delivered to the ROTC building on Wednesday led to the notification of Baltimore City authorities.
According to Hopkins Security Officer Sgt. Richard Lebrun, the source of the suspicion was "what appeared to be an oil spot on the bottom."The letter was delivered "sometime around 11 a.m." but not discovered until later in the afternoon, said Lebrun.
It was not until after 1 p.m. that the recipient returned to his desk, where he found the letter addressed to "a particular graduate admissions office," said Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs Dennis O'Shea.
He then contacted Hopkins Security, and "just to be safe, we contacted the Baltimore City Police Department and Fire Department, and they took it to be tested," said Lebrun. The Fire Department is "responsible for transporting hazardous materials," which is why they were contacted. O'Shea also said that the Health Department was notified, but, as of Wednesday night, the University has "not heard back" about the results of the tests performed.
Lebrun confirmed that the letter "was delivered by our mail service."
The person who received it "was intelligent enough to put it in a sealed envelope" as a precaution, said Lebrun.
"Although it was the correct and responsible thing to do, at the moment it does not appear likely there is anything the matter" with the letter, said O'Shea. "It could be any number of completely innocent things."
"It was probably delivered there accidentally," said Lebrun.
Even before the University became aware of the letter, security measures regarding the mail were already in place.
"The University is taking seriously threats that have happened around the country," said O'Shea, which has prompted more careful attention to the mail.
O'Shea said that workers at the "mailroom in Gilman Hall, the central delivery point, have been reminded of what they have already been trained on," including knowing what to look for and what should be considered suspicious.
The University had also already been planning to hold "consultations with the United States Postal Service" on what steps to take to ensure the safety of the mail, said O'Shea.
There also had already been plans for "a broadcast e-mail with suggestions [on] how [students] should respond if they get mail they are suspicious of," said O'Shea, following recommendations from the Center for Disease Control.
Despite the scare, there is "not a reason to thing the university" has been targeted, said O'Shea. In an unrelated incident, the University shut down its ventilation systems for a short period of time on Wednesday in response to city-wide threat of anthrax.
In an e-mail sent out on Wednesday, James McGill, the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration said, "Baltimore City authorities have announced that there has been an unsubstantiated threat of a release of anthrax in Baltimore early this afternoon."
However, in response to this threat, the University shut down ventilation systems during the time period included in the threat.
"Ventilation systems were shut down as a safety precaution to the announcement the mayor put out," said Sgt. Lebrun, but were "back on by 2:30 p.m." on Wednesday.
The e-mail stated that there had not been a specific threat against Johns Hopkins.
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