Suspicious Package Forces Shutdown Of UNI Campus

Things are back to normal at the University of Northern Iowa after a suspicious package forced the Cedar Falls campus to be shut down Tuesday morning (July 28, 2015).

University officials said it was a bag of audio/visual equipment that forced the campus shutdown shortly before 7 a.m. The bag in question was found on the ground outside Maucker Student Union by UNI police walking across campus.

Once the discovery was made, UNI officials decided to notify the public of the potential threat. They posted an alert on the university's website just before 7 a.m. that said Waterloo police were investigating a suspicious package found on campus. For original story, CLICK HERE.

Cedar Falls firefighters were called to the campus, along with the Waterloo police bomb squad. Authorities eventually determined that the suspicious bag was filled with audio/visual equipment and posed no threat to the public or campus. Investigators don't know where the bag came from, but they believe it may have fallen off a cart.

Police began re-opening the campus around 9:30 a.m. The university resumed normal operations around 10:30 a.m., about three-and-half-hours after the public was made aware of the potential threat.