Fired Worker Threatens To Blow Up U. of Washington Hillel Building
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A former employee of the Hillel at the University of Washington threatened to blow up the building with a mix of toxic chemicals.
The former employee, who was recently fired as a maintenance worker at the Hillel UW, on Monday was arrested after he mixed the chemicals in a supply closet in the basement of the Karen Mayers Gamoran Family Center for Jewish Life building, according to the Seattle Times.
Employees and students, up to about 30 people, evacuated the building in Seattle’s so-called U-District and called police.
A police SWAT team entered the building and found the man, who has not been named, overcome by fumes from the mixed chemicals, which included ammonia and bleach.
Police closed roads to traffic around the building during the incident. The Hillel, which is located about two blocks from the campus, was set to reopen on Tuesday, according to the Seattle Times.
Hillel Director Rabbi Oren Hayon told the Los Angeles Times that he did not believe that the attack was anti-Semitic.
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