3 colleges boost security amid threats

Messages found in bathrooms

A campus police vehicle and a car from the Plymouth County Bureau of Criminal Investigation were parked yesterday outside the campus center at Bridgewater State College. (GEORGE RIZER/GLOBE STAFF)

Officials at Bridgewater State College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Framingham State College have beefed up security after threatening notes were found in the bathrooms of buildings on their campuses.

Bridgewater State officials have added police patrols after finding a series of notes. Two, including one threatening the life of the college president, Dana Mohler-Faria, were found yesterday. A day earlier, four messages containing the words murder and death were found.

At UMass-Amherst, the police presence was increased yesterday after a janitor found "a message threatening violence with a weapon," according to an alert posted on the university website.

At Framingham State, officials evacuated a building yesterday after a student found a note written on toilet paper that mentioned a bomb, weapons, and "leap year." This year is a leap year, in which an extra day is added to the calendar, Friday, Feb. 29.

None of the schools disclosed the full contents of the notes and messages, citing security concerns.

David Ostroth, vice president for student affairs at Bridgewater State, said that the campus would remain open today and that the college president would have additional personal security.

"He's coming to work . . . and we have decided to keep the campus open," Ostroth said of Mohler-Faria. "He feels he needs to be here."

A UMass-Amherst spokesman said officials were not sure whether the incidents were linked, but said they were tightening security and had asked the campus community to call police with any information.

"Police haven't gotten that far yet," said spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski. "There are news reports of other incidents that might be similar, but authorities will have to decide what commonalities there are."

Framingham State officials ordered the evacuation of Hemenway Hall, the campus's main classroom building, where the note was found. Police investigated and declared the building safe after several hours.

Peter Chisholm, college spokesman, said that the building would be open for classes today, but that only one entrance would be open and that students and faculty would be subject to searches.

"We were in contact with authorities down in Bridgewater, discussing the messages, and we don't believe there's any connection between the two," Chisholm said. He said he had not heard about the UMass incident.