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Anthrax threat shuts down LSUA

Hoax suspected, but threat is being treated seriously

Mandy Maxwell / Staff Reporter

Posted on October 30, 2001

State Police troopers from hazardous-material units ride in the back of a pickup truck to the first of nine buildings they would check for possible presence of anthrax at Louisiana State University at Alexandria. The campus was closed Monday after an anthrax threat, and it remains closed until test results are received.

The message came from a caller with a foreign accent: "There is anthrax in your ventilation system. You have all been infected."

After receiving that chilling threat Monday morning from an unidentified male caller, Louisiana State University at Alexandria officials called in the police and shut the campus down.

Classes remain canceled at least through today as authorities await the results of tests conducted on all nine buildings on campus to determine if anthrax is present.

"We certainly believe that this is a hoax," LSUA Chancellor Robert Cavanaugh said. "However, we are taking this seriously."

Anthrax scares continued to pop up Monday throughout the country even though most have proven to be hoaxes.

The state Department of Health and Hospitals reported there have been no confirmed anthrax cases in Louisiana of the more than 300 substances tested.

But with people being infected on the East Coast and anthrax traced in congressional offices and mail distribution centers, even apparent pranks are being taken seriously.

State Police detectives interviewed at least two students Monday who were lingering around the campus after the evacuation was completed.

The LSUA scare was phoned in about 8:15 a.m. The Admissions Office received the threat from "a man with a foreign accent," Cavanaugh said.

College officials contacted State Police, which recommended the campus be evacuated. Troopers and Rapides Parish sheriff's deputies quickly shut off all entrances and allowed people to leave but not enter.

Buildings were evacuated, and students and staff were sent home. Tests for anthrax take at least 48 hours to complete, but officials are hoping to get preliminary results quickly.

State Police Sgt. Howard McKee said students and faculty who entered LSUA buildings Monday should shower and wash the clothes they were wearing. A State Police hazardous-materials unit went through each building on campus, swabbing the ventilation system. Cavanaugh said each building had to be tested because the threat was vague. The campus does not have a central ventilation system; each building has its own system.

Samples were transported late Monday by helicopter to DHH labs in either Shreveport or Lake Charles.

Authorities are conducting an investigation to try to determine who phoned in the threat, but no arrest has been made. Sgt. Mike Migues and Trooper 1st Class Jason Alston with the State Police Detective Division interviewed at least two students.

Maytia Lee and a man who refused to give his name were talking in a parking lot long after the campus had been evacuated. Lee said the man, who shares an English class with her, was discussing her vehicle when a sheriff's deputy approached.

The deputy asked for a driver's license, then talked with the pair for a while. Suddenly, two detectives approached and asked to speak with each one of them independently.

After being interviewed by the detectives, Lee and the male student were asked to leave the campus. As the man left, he said most of the questioning concerned why he and Lee were still there.

Lee said she was there because she was worried that the evacuation was a joke and didn't want to miss her math class. She said the two remained on campus talking with each other, and no one had demanded they leave.

Officials would not comment on any questioning or the investigation. Cavanaugh said the college phone lines do have caller identification, but the numbers are not locked in memory. Once the person hangs up the phone, the number is lost. Cavanaugh said the woman who answered the phone was in such shock that she didn't notice the identification number.

As the evacuation began, Crystal Dufour and Jessica McCann quickly headed to their cars. The 18-year-old Marksville women, who had carpooled to class, watched as the lines of traffic grew longer and longer.

Dufour said she is skeptical of the LSUA anthrax threat because of the number of hoaxes that have been occurring. But "it is scary that it has hit so close to home so many times," she said.

McCann said she wasn't really worried but was a little nervous. "You don't see state troopers and police at the school like this all the time," she said.

Cavanaugh said he felt the scare would have some impact on the students and faculty. "It has had an impact on me," he said. "A few years ago this would not have been taken as serious, but today this is a big deal, and we are very serious about protecting our people."

LSUA classes at England Airpark are not closed.

Mandy Maxwell: 487-6465;

mmaxwell@thetowntalk.com

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Answers

Watch how fast this story drops from the radar.....

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

I surely hope it is a hoax!

The person who called should be shot, but drawn and quartered first, but before that, covered with red ants, but before that put in a room with those bees from S. America, but before that whipped and beaten.

I could go on, but you get the idea...

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

well, for what it is worth...Dan had a hard time coming home out of Akron tonight...nothing on the news..but he said COPS EVERYWHERE.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001