Violent threats target U.S. universities, schools on high alert

NEW YORK (ABC) — A trio of universities, including the University of Texas, were on high alert this this morning after individuals made violent threats to the campuses. The University of Texas in Austin evacuated all of its campus buildings after a man claiming to be affiliated with Al Qaeda called in a bomb threat, according to a message sent to students by university officials. The campus notified students shortly after 10 a.m. today to get as far away from campus buildings as possible after a man with a “Middle Eastern” accent called and said there were bombs on campus. The call came in shortly after 8:30 a.m., according to police. The caller said the bombs would go off within 90 minutes, according to the message sent to students. The bomb did not go off after 90 minutes and sources told ABC News that the bomb squad was not called. UT Police cleared campus buildings around noon today, but classes were cancelled for the rest of the day. North Dakota State University in Fargo sent out a text message to students telling them to evacuate campus buildings by 10:15 a.m. because of a bomb threat that had been called in. Threats were also made to Valparaiso University in Indiana today, though officials there said the threats were made via graffiti messages and were not specifically “bomb threats.” For more information on this developing story, click here to go to ABC News.