Authorities say a juvenile was behind a bomb threat that shut down the Columbus Walmart on Highway 45 North for a little less than an hour Monday afternoon.
The Columbus Police Department first reported the incident through its Twitter account at about 2:45 p.m. The store, after receiving a phone call about an alleged bomb, was evacuated as emergency responders performed a sweep.
There was no bomb.
Walmart opened again about 3:20 p.m.
CPD officials said this morning that an elementary-aged juvenile called in the threat.
Interim CPD Police Chief Fred Shelton said calling in a bomb threat is normally a felony offense. However, the suspect, due to his or her age, will be turned over to the juvenile court system and action will be taken from there. Shelton said a child has to be at least 15 in order to be charged with a felony.
Still, Shelton said Monday’s incident was serious and a reminder that children need to be taught not to play on the phone.
Shelton added that with more children having cell phones, it’s important to monitor their activity.
“It’s not a joking matter,” he said. “It’s not a playing matter. It’s very serious. It could cost lives or vendors to lose money. There are lots of things that can happen with what’s seen as a prank. We have to expend emergency services and money with paying to send people in.”
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