Suspect Identified In Case Of Suspicious Substance, Threatening Letter

Mar. 04, 2011

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@hr888888.com, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - UNA Police have identified a suspect in the case of a threatening letter containing a suspicious substance received on campus yesterday. The suspect, a member of the UNA staff, has been placed on unpaid leave by the university and trespassedfrom campus, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation. The suspect's name is not yet being released to the public, pending the outcome of the investigation. The case is now being turned over to the District Attorney and Postal Inspector. A threatening letter addressed to a UNA faculty member and containing a suspicious substance was delivered to the fifth floor of Stevens Hall yesterday afternoon. UNA Police were notified, and the building was quickly cleared, ventilation systems shut downand the campus community notified of the situation via the university's Lion Alert system. Three staff members were held for decontamination. The building and the three staff members were later cleared. The UNA Police have worked on the case in cooperation with Colbert County Hazmat, the Florence Police Department, the Florence Fire Department, the FBI, the county EMA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Alabama Department of Public Health. The letterand envelope containing the suspicious substance have been turned over to the Alabama Department of Forensics for analysis. Stevens Hall remained closed through the evening yesterday and reopened for regular activities at 8 this morning.

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The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: hr888888.com and hr888888.com/unaworks/.