A wave of bomb threats across the country has been declared a hoax, but not before keeping Northern California authorities busy.
Bomb threats have been reported at businesses, banks, and government buildings.
The Sacramento Sheriff's Department got a number of calls Thursday morning from businesses throughout the county that received an e-mail demanding money and a payment of bitcoin.
“We don’t have any information that leads us to believe that there is any credible threat,” said Sergeant Shaun Hampton. “But, we are evaluating each call that we receive to make sure they don’t rise to that level.”
“We will contact the business, and/or the complainant, just to make sure that we have all of the information that we need to go forward with our investigation,” Hampton continued. “That includes how they received the e-mail, where it came from and things of that nature.”
Threats have also been reported El Dorado County.
“All of the law enforcement jurisdictions in our county received their own threats, from one county line to the other,” said Sergeant Moke Auwae. “We got one in El Dorado Hills, Placerville, Diamond Springs, Cameron Park… and we got one all the way up in South Lake Tahoe.”
While dispatch lines were busy when the threats were first appearing, calls to the department slowed down as the day went on.
“They weren’t calling it in; we’d hear it from some other avenue,” Auwae explained. “They were either posting on Facebook, or… I think our citizens have gotten the idea that it’s a hoax and are treating it as such.”
The Sacramento office of the FBI issued a written statement saying they're aware of the threats... and remain in touch with law enforcement to provide assistance. “As always,” the message continues, “we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety.”