At least a dozen historically Black colleges and universities in the United States received bomb threats and put their campuses on lockdown on Tuesday, a day after a rash of similar threats forced several of them to cancel classes.

The threats in cities from Baltimore to New Orleans coincided with the first day of U.S. Black History Month.

“We don’t think it’s by coincidence that we received this particular threat at this particular time,” said A. Zachary Faison, Jr., president of Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida.

A 3:30 a.m. caller to the Jacksonville sheriff’s office warned that “multiple explosive devices” had been placed around the campus and would be detonated 12 hours later, followed by a school shooting, Faison said.

Local law enforcement officers with dogs were patrolling the campus as of midday on Tuesday, he said.

In a statement the FBI said it was aware of the bomb threats and working with its law enforcement partners to address potential threats. It encouraged members of the public to report anything suspicious to the bureau.

The U.S. intelligence community warned months ago of a threat that racially motivated violent extremists, such as white supremacists, would seek to carry out mass-casualty attacks on civilians.

Howard University in Washington, Morgan State University in Maryland, Spelman College in Georgia and Xavier University of Louisiana were among the colleges that received threats, according to Twitter posts and statements from the schools

Source: Tap News Agency