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Jon Collins and Riham Feshir

U student union will reopen Tuesday after 'security threat'

Coffman remained closed on Monday
Coffman Memorial Union was closed to all students and visitors Monday, Aug. 10, 2015 as law enforcement continued to gather evidence after a suspicious bag was found the previous night.
Riham Feshir | MPR News

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Updated: 4:30 p.m. | Posted: 6:09 a.m.

The University of Minnesota's Coffman Memorial Union will reopen Tuesday morning, after a "security threat" involving a "suspicious bag" closed the building.

A statement from University Services Vice President Pam Wheelock said the building was closed for the day so it "could be thoroughly searched" by University police officers and canine units from other police departments.

"As police gathered more information, including the contents of the bag and security video images, the decision was made to close Coffman [Monday] and search the entire building," Wheelock said.

University spokesman Tim Busse said Coffman night staff found the athletic-style bag on the first floor of the student union around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, when the building is closed to the public.

"It was out of place because it was in Coffman on a Sunday and the folks working there hadn't noticed it previously," he said, "something they noticed shouldn't be there."

Video footage showed a person entering Coffman, which concerned police, Busse said.

University of Minnesota Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm will continue to search the building for evidence Monday.

The campus was quiet this afternoon with only orientation events drawing students. A few people tried Coffman's doors to find them locked.

Busse said the incident could've caused more of an inconvenience had it happened a couple of weeks later.

"Obviously Coffman is a very busy place. It's the center of the campus activity with food operations and the book store and student organizations and offices and so on," he said.

U officials have not said what the bag contained.