University of Pittsburgh Bomb Threats

Since mid-February, the University of Pittsburgh has received more than 50 bomb threats, and while they've all been false alarms, they have succeeded in disrupting campus life. Tighter security measures are now in place, but the threats continue, and students are wondering how they'll be able to make up class work and prepare for final exams.

At first, sophomore Maggie Stankaitis thought the threats were a response to the unseasonably warm weather — some prankster student trying to get out of class to enjoy the sunshine. But now, dozens of bomb threats later, and with lines of students backing up to get into the student union, class and library because of the tighter security, she's changed her mind.

"I'm like kind of waiting for it to happen, and I have like an emergency bag packed if I need to be evacuated," Stankaitis says.

Initially, bomb threats appeared scrawled in bathroom stalls in the towering building called the Cathedral of Learning, but lately they're being sent over the Internet, using a method that makes them difficult to trace. A Joint Terrorism Task Force that includes the FBI, Department of Justice and campus police is investigating, says university spokesman Robert Hill.

"We are obligated to treat every threat seriously," Hill says. "We search, we clear the building. But now, when we clear the building and make it available for occupancy, IDs are required for admission."

Around 29,000 students attend Pitt, and every threat is followed by an evacuation — whether it's the 42-story Cathedral of Learning or a dorm at 4 a.m. And Hill knows the experience is unnerving for students.

I feel that unwarranted fear just causes chaos and that that's what this person wants.
- Corinne Hogge
"There hasn't been a bomb," Hill says. "There hasn't been even a device detected. Still, it's unsettling to have been subjected to the threats."

Sitting outside the student union, junior David Giannaula says he's experienced a range of emotions about the threats.

"I wrote it off as someone who was getting out of a test; that was like the first two weeks, because they happened at similar times," Giannaula says. "And then I got annoyed, it was just like, 'These are fake, I'm tired of it.' And then actually probably the last two weeks, it's been a bit more nerve-wracking because it just like isn't stopping at all."

But junior Corinne Hogge thinks that fear plays right into the hands of the person, or people, making the threats.

"I feel that unwarranted fear just causes chaos, and that that's what this person wants," Hogge says.

So she's trying keep a lid on it, but as she's watched her classes canceled or interrupted, she can't help but feel ripped off.

"It's just kind of upsetting knowing that I worked an entire semester and that finals may be optional, or I may not do as well just because I didn't have the opportunity to have the class time," she says.

Lawrence Likar, a retired FBI agent and professor at La Roche College in Pittsburgh, says the university has to strike a balance as it takes into account students, academics and worried parents.

"You've got enormous pressure from their loved ones," Likar says. "And that pressure is so important to an institution — the safety of the children, altruistically, and then from a business standpoint, there's tuition money too."

The university won't discuss what's in store for finals and graduation, but a number of students say they're ready for the semester to end so they can get off campus.

Bomb threats to the University of Pittsburgh kept the campus on edge Wednesday night and Thursday morning despite an arrest of a possible suspect.

A rash of more than 50 threats have been made against the university and its officials since mid-February, causing constant disruptions to classes and activities on campus and evacuation of campus buildings and officials' homes.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh University police department and Allegheny County Police arrested Mark Lee Krangle, 65, of Hudson, N.Y., as he arrived at the Pittsburgh airport on a flight from New York on charges of harassment and terroristic threats.

Krangle allegedly sent threatening emails to four professors at the university, and wrote that he was coming to Pittsburgh to get his theories about the bomb threats out to the public, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Krangle's Facebook profile shows extensive musings on the perpetrator and motive behind the bomb threats.


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Hours after Krangle was arrested, however, the university received two more bomb threats. Around 10 p.m. on Wednesday evening, students were evacuated from a residence hall after a threat was emailed to ABC News' Pittsburgh affiliate, WTAE, saying "Tell Pitt cops - bombs are in the Litchfield Towers and in the William Pitt Union building on campus."

Around 5 a.m. today, five more residence halls were evacuated due to threats. The university said Wednesday the investigation into the threats is ongoing.

Pittsburgh University police were unavailable for comments this morning. The FBI and Pittsburgh police department are assisting in the investigation, according to a police department spokeswoman.

Criminal records show that Krangle was convicted in 2003 of threatening to kidnap, a felony offense for which he served prison time and was ordered to undergo psychiatric therapy. The court documents from the case are sealed.

On his Facebook page, Krangle claims he received his Ph.D. from Pitt, and offers a link to an e-book he authored about his role in the Jimmy Carter administration. He notes that the federal case against him in 2003 was caused by a letter he wrote to ABC TV, alleging that he had information about the 9/11 attacks before they happened.

Krangle, in his recent Facebook posts, tied the Pitt bomb threats to the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Pittsburgh movement.

"I'm a former Pitt teaching fellow and doctoral candidate who became involved in the intelligence community since leaving. I believe more than one person is involved, directed by a mastermind. I believe the motive is revenge for a host of wrongs committed by Pittsburgh's one percent, though I have no information that the Occupy movement is responsible," Krangle wrote in one post.

A $50,000 reward has been offered by the university to anyone who can provide information leading to arrests in the case.