Quincy Woman Makes Bomb Threats Before Quinnipiac University Graduation

Photo via Quinnipiac University on facebook

A Quincy woman admitted to police that she called in two separate bomb threats to Quinnipiac University over the weekend so that her parents wouldn’t find out that she wasn’t actually graduating from the school.

Hamden, Connecticut, police arrested Danielle Shea, 22, after she told authorities that she phoned in the bomb scares to avoid the embarrassment of her parents finding out she was no longer enrolled at the university, and that she wasn’t going to receive her diploma.

According to a police report, at around 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, police responded to the Quinnipiac University library after receiving the first bomb threat. Police said around 5,000 people were seated in the “quad area” near the library, waiting to watch 425 undergraduate students from the College of Arts and Sciences receive their diplomas.

After searching the library and determining there was no immediate threat to the public, police received a second phone call. The caller allegedly told investigators, “several bombs” were on campus. “You haven’t cleared out graduation. That’s not a good idea,” the caller said, according to a police report.

After tracing the phone number back to Shea, police located the Quincy woman at the TD Bank Sports Complex, dressed in her cap and gown. Officers detained the suspect and obtained a “detailed confession” that revealed Shea wasn’t enrolled at the school this year, but had still received thousands of dollars from her mother to go toward her education. “When graduation day arrived, Shea, who had earlier purchased a cap and gown, panicked when her relatives did not see her name on the graduation roster. She then stated that she made the bomb threats in an attempt to have the graduation cancelled,” police said.

Shea was charged with threatening in the first degree and falsely reporting an incident. She was detained at police headquarters and is scheduled to appear in court later this month.

Despite the threats, the school’s commencement ceremony proceeded without incident.