Florida Gateway College receives 2 bomb threats

For the second straight day, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) deputies cleared Florida Gateway College (FGC) following hoax bomb threats.

According to posts on the CCSO Facebook page on Thursday morning, deputies searched the FGC campus and found no credible devices by 11:50 a.m. and FGC resumed its regular operations. 

“The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office treats all situations of this nature seriously and investigates each incident thoroughly to the best of our abilities,” said CCSO Sheriff Mark Hunter in a social media statement.

Another threat occurred around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, and CCSO deputies cleared the campus in under three hours.

“At 5:45 pm the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office completed a search of the area of the Lake City campus that was under investigation and found no evidence of threat to the campus,” FGC President Larry Barrett wrote in a social media statement. “The campus will remain closed until tomorrow morning when regular hours and classes will resume.”

Santa Fe College also received non-credible threats at the Perry Center in Alachua and Andrews Center in Starke on Wednesday. Both SF and FGC were two of six Florida colleges to receive the hoax threats.  

“Both threats appear to be similar to ones being received by other colleges and higher ed today and previously,” SF Police Chief Ed Book said in a phone interview on Wednesday. 

The latest incidents continue a pattern that started in August 2021, when area high schools began receiving bomb threats. 

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