NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The downtown New Haven area including Yale University has been deemed safe Friday evening after multiple bomb threats on the campus earlier prompted a massive police response.
At 6:52 pm, Yale Police advised that an all-clear was given and the university is back to normal operations.
All surrounding businesses and streets are also open and back to normal, according to city officials.
New Haven police received a call to its non-emergency number around 1:50 p.m. Friday afternoon stating that bombs were placed in several buildings on the university's campus.
Mayor Justin Elicker said the police department quickly reported the call to the Yale University Police Department, who quickly sent out alerts to students, faculty and staff and began to evacuate buildings.
The alert to the university community was sent out around 2:30 p.m., officials said.
"We take these threats very, very seriously," Elicker said.
Yale University student Solomon Helfgot said he was taking a nap when all of a sudden, he was woken up.
"A few police officers came bursting through. I freaked out and I walked out without any shoes," added Helfgot.
Helfgot and his roommate along with other students in nine buildings, and Bass Library later on, were immediately evacuated.
They were originally told to stay at the New Haven Green but with the cold weather, an indoor location was opened up for them to stay inside.
"We just thought it was something routine which is part of the reason why he doesn’t have his shoes but clearly isn’t," said Krishna Tewatia, a student at Yale University.
WATCH: New Haven Police provide details into investigating reports of bomb threats on Yale University campus
New Haven Police Chief Renee Dominguez said additional explosive dogs were requested from neighboring districts.
The investigation led to several busy streets being closed down for hours and caused bumper-to-bumper traffic.
"Safety is the number one priority so however long it takes unfortunately if it impacts traffic and businesses today, we rather everyone be safe," said Chief Dominguez.
The incident even impacted businesses downtown like the Rumbaba Restaurant on High Street.
Delivery orders for their customers started to get cold.
"Well, actually we do a lot of delivery orders. We have an issue with the drivers. They are late to get here and get the order," said Ernesto Garcia, owner of Rumbaba Restaurant.
Neither Dominguez nor Higgins would elaborate on the person who made the call. They said they are working diligently to identify the caller.
"Our (team) did a fantastic job at trying to get as much information and keeping the individual on the phone as long as we possibly could so we could get as much information," Dominguez said.
More updates will be posted on the university's emergency management website.
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Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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