University Police evacuated North Hall on Friday afternoon after a suspicious package was found in the first floor lounge.
UPD spokesman Maj. Brad Barber said the building was evacuated out of precaution.
“At no time was there no consideration that there was an explosive,” he said.
University Police received information at about noon after a housekeeping staff member found three test tubes filled with an unknown substance bound together in the kitchen.
Barber said the substance was removed by UF Environmental Health and Safety staff.
He said the evacuation was a “totally different matter” from the incident that happened at Keys Residential Complex earlier Friday morning.
UF biology freshman Gabriel Garcia was in the lounge doing homework around 11 a.m. when a housekeeping staff member asked him what was on top of the towel dispenser.
Garcia, 19, described the test tubes as three 8-inch clear tubes about the size of a quarter in diameter.
They were stacked like a pyramid with duct tape wrapped around them.
The tops were closed with plugs.
“I could only see the bottom of the test tubes,” he said. “The liquid was clear like water.”
Police had no leads on who the test tubes belonged to.
“We always have to err on the abundance of caution,” Barber said.
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
