Suspicious package

Earlier today, a suspicious package was found near the Chapel on the UTRGV Edinburg campus and was removed by the McAllen Police Department bomb squad.

“The McAllen bomb squad came and picked up the item and they actually opened it up and it was not an explosive device,” University Police Chief Raul Munguia said. “It was just a device … designed to look like an improvised explosive device, but in the end, it was not an explosive.”

Munguia said a groundskeeper found the package.

Asked if there are any suspects in the case, he replied, “We have no idea who left it there.”

“They notified us, we sent some officer out there to take a look at it and it looked suspicious to them and then they went ahead and cordoned off the area,” Munguia said. “We sent out an emergency alert to keep anyone away from there because we didn’t know what we were dealing with.”

The UTRGV’s bomb-sniffing dog was dispatched from Brownsville to the Edinburg campus.

Patrick Gonzales, UTRGV’s associate vice president for University Marketing and Communications, said certain areas of campus were closed.

“We didn’t open the Student Union,” Gonzales said. “Obviously, we didn’t open the Chapel and we sent out a message letting our students know and asking them to avoid the area that was roped off.”

An alert was sent via the UTRGV Emergency Notification System to the campus community at 6:49 a.m. asking the campus community to avoid the vicinity of the Chapel and surrounding buildings.

At 8:47 a.m., a second alert was sent, stating: “All clear. Suspicious package has been safely removed from the UTRGV Edinburg campus. All clear.”

“We enforce the notion out there that if our students or faculty and staff, if they see anything that looks suspicious or out of place, don’t hesitate to call us,” Munguia said. “In the end, we want the campus to remain safe and us as a police department, are much more effective when the community also takes part in some responsibility in reporting what they see to us.”