Bomb squad gives all clear at UWL

Suitcases were hard to
X-ray because of metal benches

The suitcases were empty and harmless.

After six hours of wondering what was in two suitcases left on a bench on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus, a bomb squad finally cleared them.

Many people watched as a robot handled the suitcases. University police chief Scott McCullough said the location of the bags on a metal bench made it tougher to X-ray them.

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, students had been evacuated from dorms where the suitcases sat on a bench under a gazebo.

It was said by multiple students watching and waiting around the taped off area about 150 yards from the gazebo, that up to six suitcases had been left at various places around campus, but police did not confirm that information.

One student had talked about rumors of a “scruffy white man in a trench coat” seen carrying the suitcases.

Students were evacuated from Angell, Drake, Hutch and Wentz residence halls for about a half hour early in the day, then allowed to reenter, except for the wings closest to the gazebo.

A short time after that, students were again evacuated, along with the Eagle Recreation Center, Child Care Center and Whitney Dining Center.

As the day moved to night, the distance from the gazebo has increased – perhaps because of the bomb squad’s impending arrival. Police were positioned around the yellow tape, as students gathered outside those barriers waiting for something to happen.

Students were being updated via email, and the campus news website, but those hanging out around the barriers, displaced from their dorms, seemed frustrated from the lack of information.