Several bomb threats were made via email throughout the U.S. including threats in Park City and Wasatch County. After some searching and discussions with other agencies law enforcement officials have determined that the threat is illegitimate.
Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter said they first received word of a threat this morning to a business near Prospector Square, Heber City Offices also received a threat, as did a business in the Silver Creek Busines. Chief Carpenter said they’ve determined the threat as a hoax.
“It appears to be a hoax." Chief Carpenter said, "At about 11:18 we were notified of a bomb threat it was made via email to a business located in Bonanza Drive near Kearns Boulevard. So of course, we investigated. We also secured the school district to ensure the Kearns campus was secure, include the Post Office and several other areas. As we got looking into it Wasatch County contacted us and told us they received a similar email. Following that when we contacted the bomb squad out of Unified, we were told that there were several in Salt Lake County as well.”
Chief Carpenter said that the e-mail sent asked for a ransom to be delivered in the form of cryptocurrency.
“Essentially they were asking for $20,000 in bitcoin." Chief Carpenter explained, "When we compared the emails from other jurisdictions, we found that the email was very similar. We had some in California, we had some in Wasatch County and Salt Lake City as well. So it’s not isolated it to Park City.”
Chief Carpenter reported that the Park City Police Department very thoroughly checked the threatened area as well as other public gathering areas.
“We obviously have checked all the areas that were of concern." Chief Carpenter continued, "All the public buildings, the Marsac, of course the business that received the threat originally. We have no concern that this is actually a legitimate threat.”
The Park City Police sent out an emergency alert asking businesses that receive a threat to contact the police, they also ask that threatened businesses do not forward the email to the police.
“Notify the businesses to retain that information and not send that forward to us, because that will damage the evidence." Chief Carpenter said, "Once we’ve determined which businesses have received that information we’ll go ahead and obtain that information from them. Certainly, if they receive anything that is suspicious, or they receive additional emails please contact us and we will take it very seriously. Of course, we searched all those areas and really what we’re looking for is anything out of the normal. Any type of package or anything that normally would not be present in their business or location.”