UBC Biological Sciences Building Locked Down Amid Threat

January 31, 2008 by national  
Filed under Incident Reports



The Biological Sciences Building at the University of British Columbia was locked down yesterday afternoon after a report of a threat to public safety. Police cordoned off the area surrounding the building and those in the labs, classrooms and offices were told to lock the doors and stay in their rooms until advised it was safe to leave.

The explosive disposal unit, police dog sniffers and fire and ambulance services responded. Police officers at the scene said they had not found anything of concern during the first four hours of their search. They expected the search would continue into the late evening. Students, professors and staff who were detained in the building were released as police went room to room.

Scott Macrae, executive director of UBC public affairs, said the university took steps to respond after receiving a threat indicating criminal intentions. The RCMP were notified, assessed the threat and decided on the appropriate response, he said.

He dismissed speculation by some who came out of the building that the lockdown was a drill to prepare for a real emergency. There has been a rather large deployment of police, significant inconvenience and general upset on campus, he said. “This is not a drill,” he added.

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