11 Walmart Bomb Threats May Be Linked: Police
There have been 11 bomb threats made against Walmart stores in Missouri and Kansas in the past several days. In none of the cases was a bomb actually discovered. But the Walmart bomb threats have led to evacuations and mass panic in the wake of the Colorado shootings.
Police are investigating the incidents and say they have a telephone number from where the threats were made, reports ABC.
Police believe that the 11 bomb threats may all be connected.
In the incidents, Walmart employees reportedly received an automated message from a caller saying that there was a bomb in the building and that the store had several hours to get everybody out. In total, eight stores in Missouri received these calls, along with three in Kansas.
For making the Walmart bomb threat, the caller, if caught, could face serious criminal penalties regardless of whether bombs were ever placed at the stores.
In Missouri, someone who makes a terrorist threat could face a class C felony charge and up to seven years in jail. It doesn't matter if the terror threat was real or made-up, so long as the threat caused reasonable fear of harm to 10 or more people.
Similarly, in Kansas, someone who makes a terror threat can face a class 9 felony charge and up to six years in jail. Again, it doesn't matter if the Walmart bomb threat was real or made-up. In fact, if it is discovered that there was an actual bomb at any of the Walmart stores, the suspect will likely face much greater penalties.
Related Resources:
- Rash of Walmart bomb threats spreads to eastern Kansas (Kansas City, Mo.'s KCTV)
- Terrorism (FindLaw's LawBrain)
- Facebook Threat Gets NJ Girl, 14, Arrested (FindLaw's Blotter)
- Angry Wife Threatens to Blow Up Planes Over Husband Working Nights (FindLaw's Legally Weird)