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A 22-year-old Farmville resident faces multiple charges in connection with the bomb threat made against Longwood University on Monday, Oct. 14. Tonae Washington is currently being held without bond on charges of Threat to Bomb or Damage Buildings (Class 5 Felony) and Harassment by Computer (Class 1 Misdemeanor). 

According to Longwood Police, an online bomb threat had come in, threatening that portion of the school. Virginia State Police and Farmville Police were called in to help with the investigation and by 3:16 p.m., Grainger Hall had been searched, confirmed to be clear of any dangers and reopened.

“The threat had a level of specificity to be deemed credible,” Longwood University Police Chief Angela Comer told the Farmville Herald. “For that reason, LUPD activated bomb threat response protocols, including evacuating the targeted building, sending out alerts to the university community, immediately requesting the assistance of our regional partners and VSP canine units, blocking traffic in the affected area, and establishing incident command.” 

 Faculty and staff were allowed to return to collect their belongings and there had been no night classes scheduled, so nothing beyond the afternoon classes got canceled. According to the statement from Longwood Police, no other buildings on campus were targeted or impacted in any way. 

“The specific timeline is still being determined as part of the ongoing police investigation,” Comer said. “I can tell you that as soon as Longwood was informed of this threat, we initiated bomb threat response protocols.” 

A look at court records shows this isn’t the first time Washington has been in court this year. She has a court date coming up on Oct. 31 in Prince Edward Circuit Court on charges of Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle (Class 6 Felony) and False Report of a Crime to Police (Class 1 Misdemeanor), linked to an alleged incident from April of this year. At the time of Monday’s incident, Washington was out on bail, waiting for her next court date in the earlier case.