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Friday, March 29, 2024

No drugs, no bombs, just sand.

The Reitz Union parking garage was shut down for about six hours Monday while police investigated an unattended backpack that turned out to contain 25 pounds of sand.

Police later learned the backpack had been left behind on Saturday by the JanSport backpack company.

JanSport participated in UF's Homecoming parade on Friday, driving a multicolored 1967 Volkswagen van, University Police Department Det. Michael Metz said.

The company, which parked its trailer at the union's parking garage, used the checkered black and olive-green bag as a tire wedge to keep the van in place while on display, Metz said.

No charges will be filed against any of the company's employees, he said.

Monday's saga began when a maintenance worker discovered the backpack on a loading dock at the union around 8:30 a.m. and called police.

Police closed the parking garage and barricaded part of Museum Road while the Alachua County Sheriff's Office bomb team sent a robot to take a look.

The robot discovered what appeared to be a white, powdery substance wrapped in a black plastic bag covered with duct tape, according to police.

After analyzing the substance, police initially reported it to be fabric softener.

They later changed their diagnosis to sand, however.

The mistake was made because the two substances are fairly similar, said ASO spokesman Art Forgey.

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"A lot of the elements that are in sand are also found in fabric softener," Forgey said.

Sgt. J.J. Moran, commander of the ASO bomb team, said the event was good training for his squad and said it's better to be safe than sorry in situations like this.

"With the terrorist levels the way they are now, you always have to err on the side of safety," Moran said.

Though the substance in the bag turned out to be sand, many students expressed frustration over UF's decision not to send an emergency text message notifying them of the situation.

UF spokesman Steve Orlando said UF didn't send a mass text because there wasn't a clear threat to the campus.

"We use that system when there's a credible threat that has the potential to affect the entire campus," Orlando said.

Monday's situation didn't fit either of those criteria, he said.

UF also posted an explanation of its decision on its Web site.

"It is important to remember that the campus covers 2,000 acres and the incident Monday at the Student Union involved an area with a roughly 500-foot radius," the explanation reads.

Other students were a little peeved they couldn't access their vehicles in the parking garage.

The garage was shut down from around 9 a.m. to around 3 p.m.

Aicha Ouzia, a UF German major, said she had been waiting for three hours to get to her car.

"I definitely want to go home," Ouzia said.

Soon after, police began escorting people to their vehicles.

Other curious students watched the scene from the grass across the street from the union.

Justin Brousseau, a UF civil engineering major, said he was killing time between classes.

"I decided why not just wait here," Brousseau said.

His girlfriend, though not quite as interested, was there as well.

"He's my boyfriend and he wants to sit here, so I'm obliging him," said Amanda Reilly, a UF electrical engineering major.

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