Police with a bomb sniffing dog outside of McKeldin Library.
McKeldin Library reopened last night more than four hours after University Police evacuated the building in response to someone asking library staff a question with concerning language, Maj. Marc Limansky said.
An individual allegedly approached the information desk at about 2:30 p.m. and asked a question — which was not specified to The Diamondback — that worried library staff, said spokesman Sgt. Aaron Davis. A staff member then called police at about 3 p.m., Davis said, and police responded by pulling the fire alarm to evacuate the library.
The staff member who reported the statement to police wasn’t entirely sure what the suspicious individual said, Davis said, but police evacuated the library as a precautionary measure.
Police began a search of the building with bomb-sniffing dogs from University Police and Metro Transit Police at about 4:30 p.m. The dogs found nothing of concern, allowing police to reopen the library at about 8 p.m., Limansky wrote in a 9:30 p.m. email to the university community detailing the incident.
Police are continuing to search for the individual who made the statement and said they received a description of the person who may have made the threat. Police are reviewing security cameras.
Danielle Mein, a junior dietetics major, said she saw three police officers searching through a bag on the second floor about 15 minutes before an officer pulled the fire alarm.
“It seemed odd,” Mein said. “But no one else seemed to think it was a problem.”
Police could not confirm whether the bag was related to the incident. Any officers walking around before an officer pulled the alarm were just beginning the investigation, police said, and making sure everyone was able to evacuate.
Police did not issue a UMD Alert when people evacuated the building.
“The purpose of the alert system is to alert people if there’s a threat to their personal safety, and in this case, there was no threat to the university community,” Limansky said, adding police used social media networks to keep the community updated.
Library conservator Bryan Draper said the lack of communication was inconvenient to library patrons.
“A lot of people are coming from D.C. to go to the library and just saw people sitting outside,” Draper said, adding he would be frustrated not knowing what was going on.
But some students said sending out an alert would have created a panic among students and faculty.
“The point was to get everyone out [of McKeldin],” said sophomore marketing major Jessica Davis, who works at the library. “We don’t need people swarming around when they’re trying to keep people safe.”
Wes Peltzman, a senior communication major, said he and his friends had just sat down in a group study room when the alarms went off.
“Most people probably thought it was just a drill … The evacuation was pretty inefficient,” Peltzman said. “People were more concerned about their property than getting out of the building.”
Though many students evacuated with their valuables in hand — some headed straight to the mall to continue studying — some library workers had to wait to retrieve their belongings before going home.
Several students approached library workers about evacuating the building without checking out books or with rental laptops and study keys. David Rivard, assistant dean for library administration, said items checked out yesterday could be returned today without penalty.
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