After Yale bomb threats, New Haven bustling again

NEW HAVEN — The streets of downtown New Haven returned to normal Saturday morning after a number of Yale University and area buildings were evacuated Friday because of bomb threats.

Students and residents alike bundled up Saturday morning to brace the chilly weather and venture out to coffee shops and other downtown businesses.

Not even 24 hours before, the area encompassing some Yale buildings and local businesses was shut down and swarming with emergency personnel. At 1:51 p.m. Friday, an unidentified caller reported a bomb threat in seven Yale University buildings to the

New Haven Police Department’s non-emergency number.

The area, a square chunk of downtown from York to Elm streets to College to Crown streets, was evacuated and businesses were told to shut their doors. The city gave the all-clear a little after 6:30 p.m., stating all buildings were safe and businesses and streets were back open.

“It was very distressing,” said Francis Hardt, the manager of the popular Atticus Bookstore Cafe on Chapel Street. “Kind of surreal.”

The store had to close around 2 p.m., but still hit its daily sales quota, Hardt said, attributing the success to early holiday shoppers.

James Steward, a student at Gateway Community College and an employee at Book Trader Cafe, said the threat didn’t really affect his day, though the threat did make him slightly nervous.

Alex Rakov, a junior at Yale University and an ROTC student, said she was training at the University of New Haven when the bomb threat came in.

Though she said she was a little distressed, she didn’t believe the threat was legitimate. She said other students she spoke to were also not too concerned. Neither New Haven police nor Yale officials could be reached for comment on the investigation Saturday morning.

However, she and hundreds of other students were inconvenienced by the threat since they couldn’t go back into their dorms. Rakov said she and a few others went to hang out with a friend who didn’t live in the evacuated area while officials conducted their investigation.

Ronnell Higgins, Chief of Yale Police and Director of Public Safety at Yale, released a statement confirming that there was no validity to the threat, but that the incident is still under investigation.

He said that anyone with any information should call the Yale police at 203-4324400, or send an anonymous text tip through the LiveSafe app.