Patrick Fergus
@Fergus5Fergus
First-year residents of Reed Hall were awakened on the morning of Sunday, Jan. 21, by the sound of the fire alarm blaring, the slamming of doors and public safety officers ordering everyone to evacuate immediately.
There was no warning whatsoever. Some residents who were showering were forced to move outside in freezing temperatures in pajamas and T-shirts. The building was cleared, and residents were moved as far away as possible.
According to Springfield College Chief of Police Joseph Tiraboschi, a member of Residence Life notified Public Safety at approximately 10:30 am of a “concerning message from a residence hall group chat.” The message was sent at 8 a.m. and simply stated, “Bomb Reed Hall.”
The message was then quickly deleted from the group chat.
The city of Springfield’s Police and Fire Department were dispatched, and soon after, officers assisted in a walkthrough of the building. It was deemed safe to enter once no evidence of a bomb or explosive device was found.
A RAVE alert was sent to students at 11:31 a.m. communicating that it was now safe to reenter the residence hall.
All Reed Hall residents were briefed at the Fuller Arts Center by Tiraboschi, Director of Residence Life John Barnousky, Dean of Students Sue Nowlan and Remy the campus Comfort Dog about the situation and how it was being handled.
The public safety officers who first responded prompted the Residential Assistants to get an accurate headcount of their floor to make sure no one was still left in the building.
This was a challenging task for Josh Wood, a junior and an RA on the second floor of Reed, as many students were not back in the residence hall from the night before.
“It was the morning after a Saturday night, and a lot of people weren’t in their dorms,” Wood said. “Everyone was kind of shocked because we all assumed it was either a prank or just a little fire….nobody really knew how to react.”
Wood and the rest of the RAs on campus are now even more focused on making their residents feel as comfortable as possible.
“A lot of residents brushed it off, but some felt very threatened and had to leave the dorms for the night,” Wood said. “Our role is pretty much just being there for everyone after such a chaotic day.”
The incident is still under investigation, and while Tiraboschi wouldn’t comment on who sent the message, he was pleased with his department’s handling of the situation.
“We were prepared,” Tiraboschi said. “I thought we were very quick and swift in how we handled it, and we got communication out quickly.”
Tiraboschi is confident that the evacuation and safety procedures taken on Sunday morning will always be implemented, no matter the legitimacy of the threat.
“Our goal is to make sure our community is safe at all times,” he said. “When these types of things happen, you have to treat them with a serious nature….even if it’s a prank or if it’s something that we believe may not be real.”
Unfortunately, these kinds of incidents have become more common on college campuses. This includes Worcester, Mass., at the College of the Holy Cross, where a threat was made last week, with multiple buildings being targeted and subsequently evacuated.
Tiraboschi said that Public Safety will continue to work with the Springfield Police through the investigation, and any updates will be communicated to the campus.
Photo Courtesy of Patrick Fergus/TheStudent