Courthouse gets two bomb threats in 3 days
Published 12:21 pm Saturday, July 31, 2010
ISLE OF WIGHT—For the second time in three days, county workers at the Isle of Wight Courthouse complex were evacuated Friday as authorities investigated a bomb threat.
Another bomb threat led to the evacuation of the complex Wednesday morning.
“This is a very unusual situation for us,” said county spokesman Don Robertson.
He said the bomb threats came in at about 8:10 a.m. Wednesday and 8:20 a.m. Friday.
“It affected the entire courthouse complex,” Robertson said.
On both days, the buildings in the complex were reopened after about 90 minutes.
Robertson estimated that about 100 county employees were displaced during each instance.
The Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office “responded immediately,” Robertson said, directing traffic and getting the word out to county employees.
Maj. Joseph Willard with the Sheriff’s Office said Friday he couldn’t say positively whether the two incidents were related. Both remain under investigation.
Aside from the disruption, Robertson said the bomb threats didn’t impact county services.
“It’s been quite a while since we’ve had anything happen like this, and none of us could recall ever having two bomb threats in the same week,” he said.