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New Details Emerge On SUNY Orange’s Newburgh Campus Evacuation

New information has been released after a suspicious device in a parking garage caused the evacuation of students and faculty from SUNY Orange’s Newburgh campus.

The SUNY Orange campus

The SUNY Orange campus

Photo Credit: Google Maps/Street View

The device was discovered around 10 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 18,  when the City of Newburgh police department received a phone call about a suspicious device inside of the parking garage of 3 Washington Center, said Det. Lt. Joseph Burns. 

Arriving units located the device on the second-floor parking garage of the Maple Building which is not operated by the college, and the decision was made to recommend evacuating the building until a bomb unit could get on scene.

The Rockland County Sheriff’s Office bomb unit responded to the scene, assessed the device, and determined that the device was inert and not a danger to the public, Burns said.

 The device was taken by the City of Newburgh crime scene unit for further processing.

Once the device was in police custody a search of 3 Washington Center was conducted by police K-9 units from multiple law enforcement agencies. 

No other devices were located. A check of the exterior was also conducted and no devices were found, he said.

"At this time there does not appear to be any danger to the public, however, the police department is actively investigating how the device got into the garage," Burns said.

In all, students and employees were displaced for about three hours. 

College President Dr. Kristine Young said all classes, including evening classes, were suspended until Thursday, Sept. 19.

"SUNY Orange continues to maintain safe environments on both campuses, but it is important that we remain vigilant always," said Young. "The adage of “See Something. Say Something” holds true now more than ever."

No other information is being released at this time.

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