ROLLA (AP) - Nearly two dozen people were quarantined today after a white, powdery substance was found on a student who claimed to have a bomb and threatened "terrorist-type" actions at the University of Missouri-Rolla, officials said.

The man, described as a graduate student depressed about his grades, also claimed to have anthrax, police said. School officials said "possible bomb materials" were found when he was taken into custody.

Twenty-three people were being quarantined until authorities could determine whether they needed to be decontaminated. A Missouri National Guard team from Fort Leonard Wood was gathering samples to determine if the substance was hazardous, said Lt. Col. David Boyle of the 7th Civil Support Team.

"If we had to make an assessment right now, our assessment is that this is going to be a bogus or phony situation," said Acting Police Chief Mark Kearse.

The 5,850-student technological research and engineering campus in south-central Missouri was shut down during the incident, and classes were canceled for the day while officers investigated.

Kearse said that when police arrived around 2:30 a.m. at the university’s civil engineering building the student was holding a knife and that he held up a bag and said: "This is a bomb."

Officials indicated the substance probably was not anthrax, noting that no one who was exposed to it has had any symptoms.

"If it was anthrax, they would have been displaying some symptoms," said Ray Massey, ambulance director at Phelps County Regional Medical Center.

Police used a stun gun to subdue the student and found a note in which he threatened to destroy the building, Kearse said.

The man’s identity and nationality were not released, although school spokesman Lance Feyh said he was an international student. The man was decontaminated and taken to a hospital before being taken to a holding facility at the Rolla Police Department, Kearse said.

Mayor William Jenks and Kearse said the student was distraught over his grades, which might have led to the incident.

The Fort Leonard Wood Explosive Operations Division was investigating the possibility that a bomb might be in the building.

"We have no hard evidence that there’s anything wrong in the building, but we simply can’t take a chance," Jenks said.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Advertisement