For the second time this month, Hampton’s courthouses have been subject to a bomb threat, forcing occupants to evacuate.
“Hampton Police and [the Hampton Fire Department] are investigating a bomb threat at Hampton General District Court. All three courthouses have been evacuated as a precaution and surrounding streets are closed. Call received at 8:29 a.m. Nothing further at this time,” according to a Tweet from the Hampton Police Department (HPD). Hampton Police and @HamptonVAFire are investigating a bomb threat at Hampton General District Court. All three court houses have been evacuated as a precaution and surrounding streets are closed. Call received at 8:29 a.m. Nothing further at this time. pic.twitter.com/9GyFIWNgKD
— Hampton VA Police (@HamptonVAPolice) March 23, 2021
Less than an hour later, HPD said that after sweeping the courthouse, nothing out of the ordinary was spotted, and normal operations were resuming.
UPDATE: A sweep of the courthouse was completed and there were no suspicious devices located. Normal operations are resuming.
— Hampton VA Police (@HamptonVAPolice) March 23, 2021
Police provided no further updates, which indicates that there is no suspect in custody for calling in the fake threat.
The person who made the threat also threatened the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, which is located next to the Hampton courthouses, according to a report in the Daily Press.Â
This is the second time operations have been interrupted at the Hampton courthouses this month.
“Bomb threats led to the closures of three Hampton courthouses Tuesday, and several downtown streets were closed to traffic for more than five hours,” the Daily Press reported on March 9.
“The first threat came in at about at 8:25 a.m. of a threat to blow up the Hampton General District Court building on North King Street. Then a second call came in, threatening to bomb the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court next door,” the report continued.
That incident turned out to be a hoax, too. Early in the afternoon, police determined there was no threat.
But it caused all court activities to be halted for a complete day, as courts are already backlogged due to COVID-19 restrictions.
No suspect was identified or arrested from the threat on March 9, and there is no word on whether the two incidents are connected.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Hampton Police” by Hampton Police.Â
