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Texas State University Students Okay After Police Evacuation, Bomb Scare

Texas State University-San Marcos
Chris Eudaily
/
TPR News
Texas State University-San Marcos.

About 300 students were allowed back into their dorm rooms shortly after 6:00 a.m. at Texas State University following a bomb hoax that forced an evacuation for about four hours.

Texas State officials say the incident began after midnight when a police officer spotted a person smoking in violation of the school's smoke-free campus policy. The officer found a potentially explosive device in the back of the individual's pickup truck, which officials said had an ignition mechanism attached.

The Austin Police Department Bomb Squad arrived shortly after 1:30 a.m. and found another suspicious package in the truck and detonated that device as a precaution.

Students at the College Inn residence hall were evacuated shortly before 2 a.m. and safely returned to their dorm around 6 a.m.

Police said the suspect fled on foot but was caught and is in custody.

Eileen Pace is a veteran radio and print journalist with a long history of investigative and feature reporting in San Antonio and Houston, earning more than 50 awards for investigative reporting, documentaries, long-form series, features, sports stories, outstanding anchoring and best use of sound.