Albemarle County Police responded to a bomb threat Thursday morning at 545 Ray C. Hunt Drive in the University's Fontaine Research Park, home to several University medical facilities. The building reopened later in the day after the police searched the premises.
Albemarle County Police Sgt. Darrell Byers said the police received information of a credible bomb threat by an individual who had been inside the building about 10 a.m. Thursday. Police, working with Facilities Management, decided to evacuate the building and surrounding facilities "almost immediately," Byers said.
Police originally suspected David Graham, a patient at the facility, who has since been cleared. Police released photos Thursday evening of a new suspect, currently unidentified, who remains at large.
"We had very viable information on the scene," Byers said. "Through [the original suspect's] cooperation, we were able to clear him."
Evacuations were already taking place when Byers arrived on the scene. He said the police proceeded to open the buildings one-by-one in an orderly process he called a "cascade opening." Police secured buildings on the periphery of the premises and reopened them as quickly as possible.
The police conducted a physical and K-9 search of the building about 2:30 p.m., Byers said. University spokesperson Carol Wood said eight bomb-sniffing dogs assisted during the search.
By 4:15 p.m., Byers said, the police declared the building "all clear," meaning there was no longer a threat to staff and patients at the Medical Center.
Both Byers and Wood said the building at 545 Ray C. Hunt Drive is a clinical building, but the building at 515 Ray C. Hunt Drive right next door is a hospital building, which was more complicated to evacuate. The Medical Center provided patients stuck waiting outside with food and drink, as well as air-conditioned buses.
Wood said patients had been "inconvenienced" but that the evacuations did not incur any major costs.
The University did not activate its emergency notification system at any time during the incident, but information about the bomb scare was posted on the University's website at 12:23 p.m.
Eric Swensen, a spokesman for the University Health System, Byers and Wood all said patient safety and convenience was their major priority during the evacuation and reopening process.
"Obviously we wanted to use as much care as possible," Byers said. Teams searched the buildings while other officers assisted in evacuating and reopening the surrounding buildings.
Swensen said all of Fontaine Research Park, including the building at 545 Ray C. Hunt Drive, would be open for regular business Friday.
"We feel like this is an isolated incident," Byers said, but the Medical Center still arranged for extra patrols Thursday evening at Fontaine Research Park.
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