Bomb threat hoax in Remsen

On March 27, a Hopkins security dispatch received a bomb threat directed at Remsen Hall that later turned out to be false, after a search. Through call tracing, it was discovered that the call was made from the basement of Remsen itself.

The call was made to Security headquarters at about 11 a.m. by what sounded like a male voice. The voice said there was an "explosive device" in Remsen Hall and then hung up. The call was made from chemistry supply room 530, located in the basement of the building.

A search of the building was then made by Campus Security, building officials and a custodian supervisor. They surveyed and checked each floor, including labs, bathrooms, trash cans, classrooms and storage areas, but found no such device or anything missing.

"Nothing suspicious or out of place was located," said Hopkins Security officer Lt. Steve Ossmus. The case is still open and is presently being investigated.

The security report was filed by Officer Donald McGill, who was on the scene. McGill deferred all comments to Ossmus. Northern District Baltimore City Police Officer Chris McGan also responded. He was unavailable for comment.

Currently there are no suspects and Ossmus does not believe that the call posed any real threat.

"I wouldn't consider it a bomb threat so much as a hoax call," he said.

This is not the first phone threat this year. On Oct. 11 of last year, precisely a month after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, an anonymous caller phoned security at 12:15 a.m. to say there would be a bomb used against an unnamed Hopkins building. The caller called it a "terrorist threat" but gave no other information about the nature of the threat. Security and police did a thorough investigation of the campus but nothing was found.

The events of Sept. 11 have heightened attention to threats of any nature, but Ossmus says that he has always tried to maintain a high level of alertness.

"As security, our primary concern is the welfare for the faculty, staff and students. Every situation is handled seriously until determined otherwise by a search or investigation," he said. "Complacency isn't something that is tolerated in security.