Utah State University briefly evacuated one of its landmark buildings on Tuesday after a suspicious package was discovered just hours before a scheduled Turning Point USA event featuring several high-profile Republican figures.
Police and bomb squad officers detonated the device as a precaution, declaring the campus safe roughly an hour later.
The incident unfolded at 2:44 p.m., when USU issued an emergency alert ordering all occupants of the Old Main Building to leave immediately. Students and staff were instructed to use the nearest exits and follow the directions of emergency personnel.
Videos posted on social media captured bomb squad officers warning “fire in the hole” three times before a loud detonation echoed across the campus quad.
Amanda DeRito, a spokesperson for Utah State, later confirmed that the package was found near the exterior of Old Main.
“A suspicious device was located and deemed to be a non-explosive device. Out of an abundance of caution, the bomb squad detonated the suspicious device. Old Main building is now clear and safe. All scheduled events may resume as normal,” DeRito said in a statement.
The scare came as the university prepared to host a Turning Point USA event Tuesday evening, just weeks after TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a campus event in Utah Valley.
Security has been a pressing concern for organizers and attendees, and officials stressed that the night’s programming would go forward as planned with additional safeguards in place.
The event featured Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, with TPUSA personality Alex Clark moderating the discussion.
Students inside Old Main described a mixture of confusion and alarm as the evacuation unfolded.
“I was in class when a man came in and told us we needed to evacuate,” said Kiera Larsen, a USU student. “There were a few shouts of ‘fire in the hole’ before it happened, and no one quite knew what was happening. I think there was some shock that there actually was something that might have exploded.”
Another student, Sam Van Orden, recalled that the initial evacuation didn’t feel urgent until he saw the police presence outside.
“We all just took our backpacks. It didn’t really seem that serious, so we calmly walked out of the building,” Van Orden said. “But once we got out, we saw all the police officers and the K-9 dogs, so I figured it was something a bit more intense than a safety drill.”
Maddie Widman, a student who had planned to study in Old Main, said she and a friend ended up watching the detonation from the quad. “A lot of unknowns and uncertainties, but hearing the police say ‘fire in the hole’ and then detonation, I just started running,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going on. It was loud and a bit chaotic.”
Emma Miller, another student, echoed the sense of unease. “There’s always the assumption and hope that this wouldn’t happen here. Our school is a safe school, but I think just hearing that bomb go off showed that this can happen anywhere.”
Authorities emphasized that the suspicious device was not explosive but insisted that standard protocols required detonation in a controlled setting. No injuries were reported, and classes and activities resumed within hours.
Still, the episode underscored heightened tensions on campus in the wake of Kirk’s assassination earlier this month. Students and faculty expressed concern that political events are becoming flashpoints for violence or threats of violence. “Hearing some of the things on the news in the past few weeks, I was a bit worried that something like this could potentially happen here,” Van Orden admitted.
Law enforcement officials did not immediately provide details on the origins of the suspicious package, and it remains unclear whether the device was placed intentionally to disrupt the TPUSA event.