The Palm Coast, Florida Walmart at 174 Cypress Point Parkway received a bomb threat at about 4:40 pm. Customers and employees were forced to evacuate the building because of the potential danger.
It was ordered that all customers immediately leave the premises in their cars. The parking lot wasn’t empty until well after the K-9 units from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office had finished searching the business. The Sheriff’s Office reports that the threat is not believed to be genuine.
At about 4:15 p.m., the Walmart pharmacy received a phone call from a man claiming to have put a bomb in the men’s room. The Sheriff’s Office responded quickly to the call, which helped to end the situation swiftly.
At about five o’clock in the afternoon, the police had already examined numerous areas of the store and found nothing out of the ordinary.
Walmart has told the Sheriff’s Office that it is store policy that it must be evacuated in the event of a bomb threat.
On March 26th, a Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Walmart received a false bomb threat, forcing the evacuation of the building. A second Walmart in Pennsylvania was evacuated in February of this year for the same reason.
Recent phoned-in bomb threats to local schools also turned out to be hoaxes.
This is the second such incident at Matanzas High School this school year, and neither the caller nor the caller’s location has been discovered.
The number from today’s call might be associated with similar crimes that have occurred in the region.
Hoaxes are not only wasteful because of the resources that must be used, but they may also be dangerous since they put a considerable number of law enforcement personnel on high alert. These bomb threats are also costly for businesses closing and losing money for the day.
