HOULTON, Maine — Wal-Marts around the state were evacuated for a time Saturday evening after multiple bomb threats were received, according to Houlton police Chief Joe McKenna.
Members of the Houlton police and fire departments joined Houlton Wal-Mart management staff in searching the local store and found no credible evidence of a bomb, McKenna said late Saturday night.
Calls started coming in to police departments around the state, including Houlton, Bangor, Calais and Biddeford, around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, McKenna said. The police chief said Wal-Mart management staff told him eight Maine stores were affected.
The Biddeford store was searched with shoppers allowed back in by 8:30 p.m., according to reports by WGME, which also said the Wal-Mart stores in Scarborough and Windham had been evacuated Saturday evening.
“The caller sounded male, but like a computer generated voice and stated there was a bomb in the [Houlton] Wal-Mart,” McKenna said. “We dispatched fire and police, made contact with [Wal-Mart] management and swept the building but nothing unusual was found.”
McKenna said following the initial search, which lasted about an hour, the store’s management decided to remain closed while night shift staff continued a more thorough search for anything unusual.
“Given that eight other stores were called and the nature of the call, we are pretty confident it was a crank call,” he said. “They all came in about the same time frame.”
Houlton Wal-Mart customers were cooperative for the most part during the evacuation, though some were reluctant to abandon their shopping, according to McKenna.
“Some people did want to ask questions,” he said. “We did have to tell them to get out and some were upset the store was going to stay closed after the search.”
McKenna said he was told by the store’s management that the Houlton Wal-Mart would reopen Sunday unless something was found overnight.
