At 1:06 p.m., St. Thomas students received an email informing them of a campus evacuation, as well as a shelter-in-place notice for students living on campus.
“We have been advised to close the STU Campus effective immediately and ask everyone to leave until further notice. We will provide further information as it becomes available,” advised Dawn Russell, President and Vice Chancellor of the university. “Residence students are asked to shelter in place in their residence and not to leave until further notice.”
Shortly after, at 1:19 p.m., UNB students received a similar email with an evacuation noticel, as well as an alert from the UNBSafe application.
“We are asking that all people on the STU and UNB campuses (Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton) evacuate in a calm and orderly fashion,” read the email. “Do not return to STU or the UNB campuses (Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton) until you receive the all clear.”
Fredericton Police advised the public of the situation via Twitter, indicating that they were investigating a “file.”
“To ensure the safety of our community, we have evacuated the UNB Fredericton and UNB Saint John campuses and the Moncton site as a precautionary measure. Residence students were told to return to their room and shelter in place. We will continue to follow the direction of local police authorities,” said Heather Campbell, Acting Director of UNB Communications.
At 3:45 p.m., President Mazerolle addressed the UNB community in an email, explaining that the situation was ongoing.
“We have evacuated the UNB Fredericton and UNB Saint John campuses and the Moncton site as a precautionary measure. All events are cancelled and access to campuses is restricted until further notice,” wrote Mazerolle. “We will continue to follow the direction of local police authorities. The situation is continuously being reassessed. Further details will be provided as soon as they become available.”
At midnight, UNB announced that the emergency situation was over and that all campuses would be returning to normal operations.
On September 11, Fredericton Police announced that the evacuation came following a potential bomb threat.
“On Friday, September 10 th , 2021 at approximately 12:20 pm, UNB Security notified the Fredericton Police Force that they had received a possible bomb threat to a UNB campus. At the time the threat was received, it did not specify which campus. All UNB campuses were evacuated as per university safety policies and procedures, while police searched for anything considered to be suspicious,” read the press release. “The investigation is ongoing. No charges have been laid at this time.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.