UC Riverside reacts to firebomb discovery

UC Riverside officials Friday canceled a commencement and some final exams after finding two homemade firebombs on campus and receiving threatening letters.

The series of events began about 6 a.m. Friday with a tree fire outside the Life Sciences building, near the outdoor Carillon Mall where the graduation ceremony for the A. Gary Anderson School of Management was to take place.

Firefighters responding to the call found one of the firebombs, said Bettye Miller, a university spokeswoman.

Police and fire officials searched the area and discovered a second firebomb hidden in a planter outside the same building. Students taking finals in the Life Sciences building were evacuated and both devices were removed without incident, campus Police Chief Mike Lane said.

Miller described the devices as “plastic bottles that possibly contained an accelerant.”

Just after noon, a threatening letter was found next to the campus bookstore, Miller said. Officials responded by canceling all remaining final exams.

A second handwritten letter was received about 3:45 p.m., this one delivered to a university administrator, Miller said.

Both threats specifically targeted Friday night’s commencement, which will be rescheduled. As of Friday afternoon, University Provost Ellen Wartella said the Saturday, Sunday and Monday commencements would continue as planned, but under heightened security. But she said law enforcement officials would have the final say.

Friday’s events come amid a string of fires, some clearly arson, on the UC Riverside campus in the last month. A May 17 fire in a kitchen forced the evacuation of more than 800 students from the Aberdeen-Inverness dormitory. The cause of that fire was later determined to be an electrical malfunction. But within a week the same dorm suffered two minor fires judged to be deliberately set. University officials said it was too early to tell if there was any connection between those incidents and Friday’s.

UC Riverside has set up a hotline for updates on the status of the weekend’s commencement ceremonies: (951) 827-8479. Updates will also run on the university radio station, KUCR, 88.3 FM.

Officials said those planning to attend should arrive early to allow time for extra security procedures, which will include searches of purses and camera bags. No backpacks, bottles or liquids will be allowed, and anyone without a ticket won’t be admitted.

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ashraf.khalil@latimes.com