Denver’s Auraria Campus was determined to be safe Friday afternoon after the campus was shut down due to threats earlier in the day. Colorado Community College System reported schools across its network were monitoring and responding to threats.
The three-school Auraria Campus — home to the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and Community College of Denver — wrote on Twitter that a “potential threat” was being investigated and asked people to “please remain calm and leave campus.”
At 2:21 p.m., the Auraria Campus Police Department “determined that campus is safe and there is no active threat,” school officials said on Twitter. The campus will remain closed Friday, it will reopen on Saturday.
Earlier in the afternoon, Denver police spokesman Sean Towle said the threat does not appear to be credible, but authorities were still investigating out of an abundance of caution.
Front Range Community College, which has campuses in Longmont, Westminster and Fort Collins, said that it is moving its campuses to remote operations on Friday and Saturday because of the threat and subsequent investigations. FRCC campuses closed at noon Friday.
“Upcoming events will have to be rescheduled for a later date. Sorry for any inconvenience!” FRCC said. “Please rest assured that the students and employees inside the building(s) are safe.”
At about 7:20 a.m. Friday, Westminster police were informed of the FRCC threat. Officers responded and shut down the Westminster campus.
Westminster’s investigation lead to a “person of interest related to the threats,” said Cheri Spottke, a police spokeswoman.
“Officers contacted the individual and it appears as if the threats are a form of doxing against this individual,” Spottke said. “At this time officers cannot validate any of the threats against the school.”
The Colorado Community College System reported on Facebook on Friday morning that it had been “made aware of a threat against several metro-area CCCS colleges,” including Arapahoe Community College, Community College of Aurora, Community College of Denver, Front Range Community College and Red Rocks Community College.
“We are working closely with campus security teams and law enforcement agencies to monitor the situation,” Colorado Community College System officials wrote. “Some colleges are currently on lockout protocol; we encourage students, faculty, and staff to check their institution’s website for campus-specific information.”
CU Boulder also canceled all classes Friday and sent students home, though officials on Twitter said there was no direct threat to its campus.
MSU Denver also tweeted about the Auraria Campus being closed, telling students that classes are canceled for the day and all students should leave campus. “Employees should not remain on campus and should transition to remote work for the rest of the day,” university officials wrote.
After a parent tweeted about her high school student being at Auraria for a summer program, the campus wrote on Twitter that “your students are safe and waiting on parents to come pick them up.”
