{
  "id": "2016-10-27-columbia-college-chicago-bomb-threat-registrar",
  "slug": "columbia-college-chicago-bomb-threat-registrar-2016-10-27",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Columbia College Chicago",
    "shortName": "Columbia Chicago",
    "state": "IL",
    "type": "private-bachelors",
    "alertSystemName": "Columbia College Chicago Campus Safety Alert",
    "enrollment": 8000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2016-10-27",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Phoned bomb threat to the registrar's office; three floors evacuated for a canine sweep",
    "headlinePublic": "Phoned bomb threat to the registrar's office; three floors evacuated for a canine sweep",
    "summary": "On October 27, 2016, an anonymous caller described as intoxicated made a bomb threat to the [Registrar's Office at Columbia College Chicago](https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/bomb-threat-made-against-columbia-colleges-registrars-office), prompting the Office of Campus Safety and Security and the Chicago Police Department to evacuate the fifth through seventh floors of 600 S. Michigan Avenue and deploy a canine unit for a search. No explosive device was found, and no injuries were reported. The incident was not the last bomb threat the downtown arts school would receive.",
    "outcome": "The canine search of the fifth through seventh floors of 600 S. Michigan Avenue found no explosive device. No injuries were reported and no one was taken into custody.",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Afternoon hours on October 27, 2016, after the bomb threat phone call was received by the Registrar's Office",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Please remain clear of the fifth through seventh floor until all clear message is given.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://columbiachronicle.com/b4b9266e-96d8-11e6-bcdc-77120e7634d4",
      "sourceDescription": "The Columbia Chronicle, quoting the verbatim Columbia College Chicago emergency notification (sent via the Send Word Now system); identical text corroborated by Patch Chicago",
      "annotations": [
        "The bomb threat was phoned into the Registrar's Office by an anonymous caller whom campus safety described as intoxicated",
        "The evacuation targeted only floors 5 through 7 of 600 S. Michigan, the building that houses the Registrar among other administrative offices, rather than triggering a whole-campus evacuation",
        "Verbatim text recovered from The Columbia Chronicle and corroborated by Patch Chicago, both reproducing identical wording; the singular 'fifth through seventh floor' (rather than 'floors') is preserved exactly as the official notification rendered it"
      ],
      "characterCount": 88
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Later on October 27, 2016, after the canine search was completed",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://columbiachronicle.com/b4b9266e-96d8-11e6-bcdc-77120e7634d4",
      "sourceDescription": "The Columbia Chronicle (October 2016 bomb threat coverage)",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Columbia College Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_College_Chicago) is a private arts and media college in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, enrolling roughly 8,000 students in film, music, journalism, fashion, theater, and fine arts programs. Its main building at 600 S. Michigan Avenue sits on Chicago's lakefront museum campus strip. On October 27, 2016, an anonymous caller who was described as intoxicated phoned the Registrar's Office with a bomb threat, triggering an [evacuation of the fifth through seventh floors](https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/bomb-threat-made-against-columbia-colleges-registrars-office) and a canine search by the Office of Campus Safety and Security and the Chicago Police Department. No device was found and no one was arrested. The 2016 incident foreshadowed a second bomb threat in July 2018, when [an emailed threat alleged that bombs had been placed 'around' the campus](https://columbiachronicle.com/campus/breaking-columbia-receives-bomb-threat-campus-remains-open/) and were set to detonate the following evening; in that case the college remained open while police investigated. The archive includes both threats to document the pattern of hoax bomb threats directed at arts and media institutions in the post-2015 wave. The October 2016 case is notable for the phone-call delivery method and the partial-floor evacuation response, contrasting with the 2018 email threat that produced no evacuation at all.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Bomb Threat Made Against Columbia College's Registrar's Office - Patch Chicago",
      "url": "https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/bomb-threat-made-against-columbia-colleges-registrars-office",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Campus community alerted of bomb threat - The Columbia Chronicle",
      "url": "https://columbiachronicle.com/b4b9266e-96d8-11e6-bcdc-77120e7634d4",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "arts-college",
    "film-school",
    "music-school",
    "bomb-threat",
    "phone-threat",
    "chicago",
    "illinois",
    "south-loop",
    "specialty-institution",
    "partial-evacuation"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-31",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-05-31",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}