COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – What turned out to be a phony bomb threat that was phoned into the Coldwater Walmart store at U.S. 12 and Willowbrook Road forced the store to be shut down for nearly three hours early on Monday afternoon.
Coldwater Director of Public Safety Joe Scheid said the store was evacuated just after 12:00 noon after a store employee took the call.
Employees and customers were forced to leave the store and wait outside. A large portion of the parking lot was closed off to vehicle traffic during the investigation.
Police searched the building for just under three hours with the help of a Michigan State Police bomb sniffing dog before it was determined there was no explosive device.
The “all clear” was sounded just after 3:00 p.m. and the store was reopened.
Coldwater Police responded. They were assisted by the Branch County Sheriff’s Department, the Michigan State Police, the Coldwater Fire Department and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The bomb threat at the Coldwater Walmart was one of four that took place on Monday in the State of Michigan. The other three were in the Metro Detroit area.
Walmart stores in Rochester Hills, White Lake Township and Canton had to be evacuated after police say bomb threats were called in by a man who demanded a ransom. No explosive devices were found at those locations as well.
It was not immediately known if those threats were related to the one in Coldwater.
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