Louisiana State University police make arrest in bomb threat

BATON ROUGE, LA - Police have arrested a suspect in the bomb threat at LSU that led to the campus-wide evacuation of thousands of people earlier this week.

Police Capt. Corey Lalonde said officers arrested William Bouvay Jr., 42, of Baton Rouge late Tuesday night after an investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies.

Lalonde said Bouvay was not an LSU student and had no connection to the campus.

He said police tracked Bouvay down after determining the 911 call Monday came from a deactivated cellphone that could only make emergency calls.

Authorities said he will be charged with communicating false information of a planned bombing. He is expected to be booked at the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.

The bomb threat was made Monday morning, setting into motion the campus-wide evacuation. The caller didn't specify which part of the sprawling campus was threatened so bomb-squad officers and explosives-sniffing dogs were called in.

Officials believe a majority of the university's 30,000 students, professors and employees were on campus when the threat was made. Their hurried departures created massive traffic jams.

The search failed to turn up explosives, and campus reopened Monday night. Classes resumed on Tuesday. An estimated 6,000 students live on campus.

Campuses in Texas, North Dakota, and Ohio were evacuated last week after bomb threats, but searchers found no explosives.