Updated on Feb. 29:

THIBODAUX – On Feb. 26, Nicholls State University and other universities in the state and around the country received a false bomb threat.

An email was sent by Jerad David, director of communications, around 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon of Feb. 26, alerting students and faculty that a false bomb threat was reported earlier in the day.

According to Nicholls Police Chief Alex Barnes, the report of a suspicious email came around noon.

“I received a phone call from the chief of police at Northwestern State University asking if we have received an email and if I was aware of anything going on,” Barnes said. “At the time, I was unaware of any email.”

It was when Barnes walked back to his office after a meeting that his investigative officer and lieutenant approached him with the email in question.

“Whenever Northwestern State’s chief of police was reading me the email they received, I noticed a nicholls.edu email [address] in the email chain,” Barnes said.

After being read that, Barnes began contacting law enforcement agencies outside of Nicholls State as a precautionary measure.

“I was in contact with Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, Thibodaux Police Department, Louisiana Fusion Center, and Louisiana State Police,” Barnes said.

Barnes said that the Louisiana Fusion Center deals with documents regarding these types of situations.

According to their website, “A fusion center is an effective and efficient mechanism to exchange information and intelligence, maximize resources, streamline operations, and improve the ability to fight crime and terrorism by analyzing data from a variety of sources.”

“We sent the email to them, along with some of our staff who have training to look at such emails,” Barnes said.

However, Barnes said it didn’t take long for his department to realize that the email was “probably a hoax.”

“The purpose of these hoax bomb threats are to cause disruptions,” Barnes said. “We followed the most recent guidance from training on these situations.”

Barnes said building walk-throughs were performed by his officers throughout the afternoon as classes went on normally. No evacuation orders were issued.

“In the event of a real bomb threat being received, buildings would be evacuated,’ Barnes said. “Depending on the information we get, [that’ll tell what buildings need to be evacuated].”

Barnes said he could not say anything more regarding the investigation, as it had been handed off to the FBI for further investigation.

No person of interest has been sought yet by the FBI.

According to Louisiana laws, anybody found guilty of calling in a bomb threat to a school or no firearm zone will face up to 20 years in prison.

THIBODAUX – Nicholls State University, along with other University of Louisiana system colleges and schools across the country, received an email indicating a possible bomb threat on Feb. 26.

Jerad David, Director of Communications sent out an email campus-wide just after 3:30 p.m. regarding the threats.

“Earlier today, Nicholls along with numerous universities across the country, including other members of the UL System, received an email indicating a potential bomb threat. University Police worked with state and federal agencies to analyze the email and concluded that this threat is NOT credible. University Police has walked spaces on campus to confirm that the campus community is safe and all clear. We will continue to monitor this situation to ensure our community continues to be safe.”

We have reached out to Nicholls Police Chief Alex Barnes, but have not gotten a response yet.

This is a breaking story. The Nicholls Worth will update this story as information becomes available.