Halloween prank evacuates two UD residence halls

A Halloween prank Wednesday night by two University of Delaware students involving small bottle-bombs crudely made with soda bottles, dry ice and water forced the evacuation of some 140 students living in Kent and New Castle halls on the University's South Mall in Newark. No one was harmed in the incident, and no damage was done.

UD Police officers on regular rounds in the area reported hearing a boom or pop around 9 p.m. on Oct. 31 and found an apparently unexploded bottle bomb. Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder and the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control were notified, and the Delaware State Police Bomb Squad was called in later.

As a precautionary measure, the dorm residents were evacuated to adjacent Smyth Hall and the Perkins Student Center. The students were allowed to return to their rooms at 12:30 a.m., Nov. 1, after UD Police had thoroughly checked the halls and the Mall area.

Just as the State Bomb Squad arrived to investigate the unexploded device found by UD Police, two UD students turned themselves in to Public Safety when they saw the lights and activity at the scene, saying that they had made the bottle bombs as a Halloween prank. The students have been referred to the Student Judicial System. Criminal charges are pending.

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