Delaware State Police investigate emailed bomb threats throughout the state

Delaware State Police say they, like police officers nationwide, are investigating a string of emailed bomb threats reported throughout the state.

The emails appear to be part of an electronic hoax. There have been no reports of actual explosive devices, but the threats alone have forced many police departments to monitor and investigate.

"I do not have all of the exact locations and number of threats we have received at this time," said Master Cpl. Melissa Jaffe of the Delaware State Police. 

The threats were similar to those received nationwide by businesses, schools, government buildings and news outlets, Jaffe said. 

"All of which were deemed non-credible," she said in an email. 

Television station WBOC and Avery Hall Insurance in Salisbury, Maryland, were among those to receive bomb threats Thursday afternoon. 

“Bomb threat at @wboc. All evacuated. Police on scene,” news producer Brooke Evans said on Twitter.

The Salisbury Police Department said on Twitter just before 4 p.m. that it had closed East Main Street between U.S. 13 and Poplar Hill Avenue as part of the investigation.

WBOC reported on Facebook that police were on the scene with bomb-sniffing dogs.

Later, it was announced that the building had been cleared. 

Threats from New York to San Francisco

Some of the emailed threats had the subject line: “Think Twice.”

The New York City Police Department said the threats sent Thursday were meant to cause disruption and compel recipients into sending money and are not considered credible.

In Detroit, police were dispatched to the Guardian Building and the Wayne County Treasury building after an officer received a threat to blow up the Treasurer’s building Thursday.

“One of our employees got an email threatening that if money wasn’t transferred into a designated account, they were going to blow up 400 Monroe,” Pageant Atterberry, a Wayne County Sheriff’s spokeswoman, told The Detroit News. “Then, we got an anonymous phone call from someone threatening to blow up the same building. DPD is in charge, and they’re evacuating the building.”

At Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, Yochum Hall was evacuated because of a bomb threat. Similar threats were also sent to the University of Washington, Penn State and Niagara University.  In New Jersey, even middle and high schools received bomb threats. 

The San Francisco Police Department said on Twitter that its forces had responded to reports of bomb threats "at numerous locations throughout the city and had responded to each location."

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a tweet the threats in that city followed in the same pattern as others around the country: “#ChicagoPolice are working with federal partners on the investigation, and at this time there is no elevated threat level in the city of Chicago,’’ the tweet said.

Other cities reporting similar threats were Oklahoma City; Seattle; Detroit; and Buffalo, New York.

• In the North Texas area, the towns of Arlington and Irving in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area also fielded threats. According to the Twitter site DFW Scanner, which monitors local police radio, the bomb threats have demanded a large payment of bitcoin.
• In Massachusetts, state police said their Fusion Center was tracking "multiple bomb threats emailed to numerous businesses in the state." They said their bomb squad had notified local police departments.
• In Orlando, officers responded to bomb threats at the Bank of America Center tower downtown, at an office park and a townhouse building, The Orlando Sentinel reported.

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This story includes information from Salisbury Daily Times reporter Liz Holland and USA Today reporter Doug Stanglin. Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.