FORT VALLEY, Ga. — It was an app on their cell phones that alerted Fort Valley students that they were one among dozens of universities that received a bomb threat Tuesday morning.
The campus of Fort Valley State University is all clear now, but just hours ago, a bomb threat locked down the campus and the school told students to shelter in place.
"I don’t think anybody is happy to wake up to that," Alexander Lowe said.
As bomb threats target more than a dozen HBCUs around the nation, Alexander Lowe, a Fort Valley State senior, says the potentially-dangerous situation was frustrating. He says the university acted swiftly through app pushes and emails.
"They explained the situation, they said we had the lockdown, they set out what it was that we were supposed to do -- to shelter in in our rooms -- and they were working on the situation," Lowe explained.
The university announced the threat just before 6 a.m. Tuesday.
In emails and social media posts, they asked off-campus students and employees not to report to campus, but people who live around the school like Michael McGhee had concerns, too.
"I've been living in the area for about 30-something years, so it’s very shocking to hear that there was a bomb threat so close to home," McGhee said.
As classes are set to resume on Wednesday, Lowe asked people to stay positive.
"I do ask for everyone to continue to put your thoughts and prayers with us we really appreciate it, and Fort Valley State, as always, is continuing to move forward," he said.
Lowe told 13WMAZ the school issued an ‘all-clear’ message to students just before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
Normal campus operations will resume Wednesday, Feb. 2.