The LSU Police Department arrested two teenagers, neither of them University students, in connection with the bomb hoax that put campus on edge Monday afternoon.
Roy Anthony Chavalitlekakha, 19, of 14202 Tickfaw Drive, Baton Rouge, and Justin Adley Brocato, 17, 40142 Patty Jo Lane, Prairieville, La., were arrested for communicating false information of a planned bombing on school property, which is a felony offense with potential prison sentences, if convicted.
The two were booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
LSUPD spokesman Capt. Cory Lalonde said department investigators received reliable information identifying the two suspects during their investigation Monday. Investigators located and questioned the two men and they admitted to writing, “bomb” on the side of one of the two boxes and placing them outside of Thomas D. Boyd Hall.
There was no indication that the two premeditated the crime, Lalonde added. They claimed the act was intended to be a prank.
Lalonde stressed the severity of their actions and said LSUPD takes these matters very seriously.
“When these types of things happen, regardless of their initial intent, LSUPD has to act accordingly and err on the side of caution for public safety,” he said.
The incident began on Monday afternoon when a University employee notified LSUPD about two suspicious boxes placed on the sidewalk. Because it seemed there might have been explosives inside the boxes, the Baton Rouge Police Department Bomb Unit was called on the scene.
The bomb unit was unable to say for certain the boxes did not contain explosives on initial analysis, so it conducted a controlled detonation.
It was then discovered that the boxes contained coffee, possibly grounds or beans, but not explosives.
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Work in Thomas D. Boyd Hall ground to a halt yesterday, while the LSU Police Department investigated trouble brewing outside.
The source of the commotion — two suspicious packages containing coffee, one of which was labeled “bomb,” raising concern around campus.
Baton Rouge Police Department explosive unit performed a controlled detonation on the packages outside Thomas D. Boyd Hall. The two boxes were located on the sidewalk between Thomas D. Boyd’s buildings, which house the Office of Bursar Operations.
BRPD spokesman Cpl. Dan Coppola Jr. said the suspicious packages were not explosive, and after the controlled detonation, BRPD determined they contained coffee.
More than 50 LSU faculty and staff evacuated Thomas D. Boyd Hall at approximately 3 p.m., and the facility didn’t reopen for almost three hours.
University bursar Larry Butcher reported the incident to LSUPD after a fellow employee told him about the packages.
“One of them actually had the word ‘bomb’ written on top of the box,” he said.
BRPD explosives unit responded shortly after LSUPD evacuated the facility and surrounding areas.
A BRPD bomb technician assessed and X-rayed the packages using the bomb disposal robot, before determining controlled detonation was the safest action.
Students reported hearing the blast as far as the Student Union. Coppola said the explosives unit was unsure of the contents before the controlled detonation.
LSUPD didn’t evacuate the entire campus. Instead, students and faculty received emergency emails and text messages.
LSUPD spokesman Capt. Cory Lalonde explained this incident was different than the bomb threat in September 2012, which forced all of campus to be evacuated.
“In this particular instance, it was called in,” Lalonde said. “It was someone that observed the package in a specific area; so we knew where it was. All of those factor into determining how we are going to respond to a particular instance after we secure the area.”
Child and family studies sophomore Annie Alvelais said she couldn’t leave during the incident because her car keys were locked in the Memorial Tower.
Alvelais was giving a campus tour when the building was evacuated. She said waiting wasn’t bad because of the company, but the uncertainty was frustrating.
Police couldn’t speculate on the motive for the incident.
According to Coppola, BRPD and LSUPD are both involved in the ongoing investigation.
The LSU Police Department is investigating the two suspicious packages left outside of Thomas D. Boyd Hall Monday afternoon.
LSUPD is leading the investigation. Spokesman Capt. Cory Lalonde said the investigation is ongoing, and he couldn’t provide any new information at this time.
After a controlled detonation Monday, Baton Rouge police learned that the boxes, one of which was labeled bomb, contained coffee.
Thomas D. Boyd Hall reopened around 6 p.m. Monday and fully resumed operations Tuesday.
