Summer evacuation under investigation

A written bomb threat found on the Gresham campus Aug. 25 is still under investigation by the Gresham Police.

According to an e-mail from Director of Communications Maggie Huffman, evacuated areas ran from the Human Resource office to the Vista Dining Center on the upper level and from the bookstore to the Career Center on the lower level.

An MHCC student found the threat in the restroom on the upper level. The student notified a nearby custodian. From there, the custodian reported the threat to Public Safety.

The nature of the note was a bomb threat, said MHCC Risk Manager Staci Huffaker. However, the content of the note is being withheld due to the ongoing investigation.

An evacuation followed within minutes of the report at 11:28 a.m. Police issued an “all clear” at 2:05 p.m.

This written threat was declared not related to the bomb suspicions in the past year, said Blessing. The other bombs were related to various incidents in the Gresham community.

Written threats and incidents are not new to MHCC. There are written threats that date back to 15 to 20 years ago, says MHCC Risk Manager Staci Huffaker.

“Don’t let your guard down,” said Director of Institutional Safety and Security Gale Blessing. “If they observe any suspicious persons or vehicles, report it to Public Safety.”