AUSTIN, Texas—The FBI has notified officials at The University of Texas at Austin that the powdered substance found in a dormitory on Thursday, Feb. 23 is not ricin.
The FBI said the substance is not ricin, a deadly poison. Although the FBI was unable to state definitively what the substance is, the agency said it is sure it is not ricin or any other toxic agent.
A student reported finding the substance in the dormitory, which houses about 400 students, to the university police department. University Environmental Health and Safety responded, sanitized the area, collected the powder and sent it to a state lab for testing. Initial tests indicated that the substance was ricin, but subsequent tests conducted by the FBI have shown that it was not.
Students were evacuated from the Moore-Hill Dormitory on Friday night while health officials sanitized an area where a powdered substance was found.
The university worked with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and other law enforcement and public health entities. The area of the dormitory where the powder was found had been isolated to collect further evidence.
“When faced with an incident like this the university’s highest priority is the safety of our students,” said William Powers Jr., president of The University of Texas at Austin. “We took every precaution to ensure our students’ health and safety were protected.”
For more information contact: Rhonda Weldon, 512-471-4472.
