The manager on duty at Smith’s in Kimball Junction received a call from an anonymous person who said he planted a device inside the store. According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, the caller asked for money to be transferred to gift cards or the device would be detonated.
The manager called 9-1-1 at 8:18 p.m. Deputies along with a bomb squad and K-9s responded to the scene.
About 85 people were evacuated from Smith’s while authorities conducted a search and declared the building safe.
According to Sheriff’s Sgt. Felicia Sotelo, law enforcement agencies across the state have reported similar bomb threats and each one has to be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.
“It seems like these kinds of things go in cycles," she said. "It's not the first time that this type of situation has gone around, not only statewide, but nationwide.”
On April 28, Smith’s grocery store in Farmington received a similar threat. No explosives were found.
Sotelo said the sheriff’s office and the FBI are working together to investigate the incident.
“I am not aware of any current leads at this time,” she said. “Sounds like the person who called, called in from an unidentifiable number. In terms of the crime associated, yes, this would be very significant.”
The sheriff’s office sent out an alert to keep people away from the Kimball Junction area.
Sotelo said it took two to three hours to investigate the threat, at which time the alert was lifted and Smith’s was back in business.
