Giancarlo Di Peco
The lockdown at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo has been lifted.
Dr. Max Blouw, President of WLU, says normal operations resumed at 11:30 a.m. after an emergency lockdown that lasted several hours.
“Faculty are not required to to resume work today and are encouraged to take caution if they do so,” Blouw said in a press conference Friday morning.
Blouw said the university’s own emergency centre received a call from the FBI concerning the internet threat.
Waterloo Regional Police Supt. Pat Deitrich, who joined Dr. Blouw at the press conference, says police have yet to identify or locate the origin of the threat.
Deitrich said the post was made on the online forum 4chan.
The post read: “Don’t go to laurier science building hall tomorrow. happening thread will be posted in the morning.”
Police say there is no reason to believe the threat was made by a student from WLU.
The university is in the middle of reading week and is not as busy as usual.
The school alerted students and faculty of the situation at 6 a.m. via its SAFEhawk mobile app.
Waterloo Police Services were then dispatched to the school, specifically the science building. FBI and RCMP officials were also called in to assist the investigation.
— The Cord (@cordnews) October 16, 2015