Only three days after an empty bomb threat turned LSU’s campus into a frenzy, another bomb threat was reported at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday evening.
The airport’s terminal and parking garage were evacuated, and a car bomb was reported to be located in a black SUV parked in the garage, said East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux.
“I literally just sat down at the gate, and they told everyone to get out of here; we have to evacuate the airport,” said Lenox Brown, accounting senior.
Brown, who was preparing to visit his girlfriend in Atlanta, said he sat outside after the evacuation until the evacuees were moved to a hangar. Airport authorities informed evacuees of the black SUV car bomb and asked any person with a black SUV to come forward for questioning, he said.
The airport’s incoming flights continued to land, but did not dock at the terminal, said airport spokesman Jim Caldwell. Those on-board the airplanes were eventually transported to the same hangar as the other evacuees.
Caldwell said the threat was reported between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., and the FBI is involved in the investigation.
Noah Baker, a 23-year-old law student, was involved in the airport evacuation, as well as Monday’s campus exodus, and said the most recent evacuation was “easier” than the previous one. He had a two-hour evacuation from his classes at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, located on the outskirts of campus.
“It’s kind of frustrating because between the hurricane and the bomb threat on Monday and now this, personally for me, it’s all really inconvenient,” Baker said.
Baker said none of the evacuees “really know what’s going on” and compared the evacuation to “being held hostage.”
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Officials respond to a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux has a moment before addressing people who evacuated from a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux addresses people who evacuated from a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Jerry Scott, a Baton Rouge native, was waiting to pick up her husband when a bomb threat forced her to evacuate the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Airplanes stayed on the tarmac until passengers were allowed to exit the plane following a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Officials respond to a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Officials unload chairs for evacuated people following a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Airplane passengers exit planes following a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Exie Meredith and her daughters, Keeley, 7 months, and Breanna, 6, exit a plane following a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Exie Meredith and her daughter, Keeley, 7 months, exit a plane following a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Exie Meredith and her daughters, Keeley, 7 months, and Breanna, 6, exit a plane following a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Officials investigate a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille People wait in a hangar following a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille LSU law student Noah Baker, 23, charges his phone following a bomb threat at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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Catherine Threlkeld / The Daily Reveille Fernando Figueroa, 43, of Toronto, waits to be allowed to leave the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport following a bomb threat on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Those evacuated were kept in a hangar next to the terminal until investigators gave the all-clear.
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