Recent hoax bomb threats

With the recent spate of hoax bomb threats against numerous organisations, including the University, we are providing an update on progress and instructions on what to do if you have concerns.

NZ Police made an arrest made an arrest in Invercargill on Tuesday 26 May. However, we understand their enquiries are ongoing and that more threats were received overnight, indicating that the Invercargill arrest is part of a wider investigation. The University is actively supporting the police with this.

On Monday morning, an unattended suspicious package was found in the Sir Owen G Glenn Building (OGGB). Given the threats we’ve received, we made the precautionary decision to evacuate the building until the police could assess the situation and give the all-clear.

This happened quickly and efficiently, and we want to thank our Security staff and building wardens who led the evacuation until the police arrived.

We were able to confirm that the suspicious package had been left behind in OGGB inadvertently. It was not associated with any specific threat and posed no danger.

As always, the health, safety and well-being of our students and staff is paramount, hence our precautionary approach in these situations. The University has comprehensive emergency response plans in place, and we encourage you to familiarise yourselves with them. More information is available on our Emergency Information page and the UoA Alert app – details on the staff intranet and AskAuckland.

If you do receive a threatening message, please call our Security team on 0800 373 7550 and forward any emails to security@auckland.ac.nz.

We acknowledge the concerns and disruption to study and work that events like this cause and want to remind you about the support offered through the Employee Assistance Programme [staff intranet], and for students through Te Papa Manaaki, Campus Care.

Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve the situation.

^{This message was emailed to all students and staff on Wednesday 27 May.}