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No Bomb Found After Threat At Raytheon Facility In St. Pete

News Channel 8 photo by Todd Davis

A day after the fatal shootings at Northern Illinois University, officials close the campus of St. Petersburg College after a threat was posted to a cyber hotline.

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By Stephen Thompson and Rod Challenger

The Tampa Tribune and News Channel 8

Published: February 15, 2008

Updated: 02/15/2008 05:14 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - Investigators found nothing after a bomb scare at the Raytheon facility at 1501 72nd St. N.

At 7:05 a.m., an unknown caller claimed there was a bomb at the Raytheon facility, which has federal defense contracts, local police said. The building was evacuated, and employees were sent home about 10 a.m., said Kevin Ramundo, vice president of communications for Raytheon Network Centric Systems. Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in from MacDill Air Force Base, police said.

Nothing was found, Ramundo said.

Police closed surrounding streets and nearby buildings.

Azalea Elementary School, at 1680 74th St. N., was evacuated this morning. The children were moved to Azalea Middle School, 7855 22nd Ave. N., police spokesman Bill Proffitt said.

In an apparently unrelated situation, there was an unspecified threat at St. Petersburg College's Gibbs campus Friday morning, Proffitt said. As a precaution, the school first cleared the Natural Science building and then shut down the campus.

Several weeks ago, a student was unhappy about a science grade he received and corresponded via e-mail with the professor, Proffitt said. Because of the wording of one e-mail, campus police put the campus on heightened alert.

Police have not contacted the student yet and no criminal investigation is under way, Proffitt said.

Provost Lars Haffner told WFLA, News Channel 8 that the college put into effect a plan created in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. In this case, the threat justified sending students home, Haffner said.

St. Petersburg police spokesman George Kajtsa said officers were looking into the matter.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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