What it’s Like to be in the Middle of a Bomb Threat Evacuation at an Illinois College

Classes were cancelled Thursday at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb due to a bomb threat. Thankfully it was a hoax and no one was injured, but a bomb threat is nothing to take lightly.

I had my first, and hopefully last, experience with a bomb threat on Monday at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.

Every day, my best friend Michelle and I drive together to work. She lives on one side of College of DuPage, I live on the other. The easiest way to get between our houses, is to drive through the COD campus.

On my way to drop Michelle off at home after work, we went through the College of DuPage campus as we do every day. Monday night it was much different than normal.

As we approached the campus, there were very loud sirens going off. We could hear them going off while we were in my car, music on, windows up. They were that loud. As we approached, we noticed every single person on campus outside of the buildings.

At first, this didn't strike me as odd. Michelle and I both looked at each other and thought it was a fire drill. We talked briefly about when we were in college and how annoying the fire drills were, then something strange caught the corner of my eye.

A helicopter was flying above one of the buildings. I've never seen a helicopter for a fire drill. We then knew this was not a fire drill.

Once we exited campus I dropped Michelle off at her home and I turned around to go back home. I had to go through the campus again.

This time, just moments later, it took me over 20 minutes to get through campus. Normally, it is a three minute drive, with traffic, down Lambert to Fawell Boulevard.

As I approached campus, I noticed there was police activity at the entrance of each building. I saw canine units. I saw students frantically checking their cellphones. I saw people panicking. I felt scared, nervous and uninformed.

The streets were crowded with students and faculty frantically trying to drive away from the campus. It was clear to me that the area was being evacuated. My heart may have skipped a beat. Why did I have to drive through this campus? Why didn't I go the other way?

At this point, I didn't know what was happening. Putting together pieces of the puzzle... evacuation, police, helicopters... my mind jumped to the first possible conclusion. Gunman. I screamed at my own thoughts, out loud.

I'm probably not the only one who thought that. Tragically, there are too many school shootings. It has become more common than anyone would like to admit. Just last night there was a fatal shooting at Northern Arizona University. 

Once the thought of a gunman entered my head it was hard to get out. I kept trying to calm myself. Don't worry Lori, if it was that bad they would have closed these streets. Lori, breathe. Lori, are you having a panic attack? How can I get out of here faster? I was terrified.

Finally I got home safe and sound, but I couldn't stop thinking about what was happening at College of DuPage. It rattled me, even as a passerby driving home on a Monday Night.

As soon I got in the door I posted a question on Facebook to the Wheaton Mom's group. (The Wheaton Mom's group is a Facebook community page I belong to, filled with incredible people always willing to lend a hand, give advice and are always the first to know what is going on in the community.)

I asked, "Does anyone know what is happening at COD?" The responses came flooding in saying that there was a bomb threat. This explained the evacuation. COD sent out emails, text messages and calls to students alerting them that classes were cancelled and to evacuate. This explained people frantically reading their phones. It was a bomb threat.

WOW. It was my first, and hopefully last, experience being in the middle of a bomb threat evacuation. Thankfully everyone is alright. The bomb threat is currently under investigation.