Reed College and 200 Other Universities Receive Bomb Threat, Director of Community Safety Says No Danger.

By Sam King

Reed College and approximately two hundred and fifty other colleges and universities across the nation received a bomb threat by email early in the morning of March 13. The threat, a copy of which was obtained by the Quest, claimed there were four fertilizer bombs in various locations on campus and attached to the sender’s person. Gary Granger, Director of Community Safety, said that he “does not believe we at Reed are at an increased risk.” 

The threat was sent to Reed’s Office of Admissions – and the email addresses of 200 other institutions – in an email sent at 4:03am. The identity of the sender, who said they were “hoping for a high kill count” and claimed to be armed, remains unknown. Their motives also remain unclear.

Later that morning, at 10:14am, Granger sent an email to the student body informing them of the situation. He urged students to report any “unusual or suspicious activity” to Community Safety. Later, when asked for comment, Granger said that it was “extremely rare” for Reed to receive bomb threats, “but [threats are] unfortunately common for colleges and universities more broadly.” He added that CSOs had been directed to search parking lots and campus facilities. 

The threat was sent from an account on the Dark Net Mail Exchange, a mail service that advertises “full disk encryption.” Its website claims it gives “people all around the world the freedom to communicate without being censored by authorities” and that it does not “allow people to use our service for terrorism, blackmail, or other crimes.” 

According to News 10, a similar incident occurred last month, on February 26, when more than 100 schools received a threat sent by email to university admissions. One recipient, Nazareth University, later labeled the threat “not credible.” 

The day of the bomb threat passed without further incident.