The Alaska State Capitol received emailed bomb threats on Wednesday that are believed to be linked to a spate of similar threats that have been reported across the nation, police and Capitol officials claim.
Juneau Police Department Deputy Chief Krag Campbell told reporters that his department was working closely with the FBI to determine the risk.
“It appears that the state capitols, universities and other big institutions across the country are being bombarded with bomb threats via email this morning. There was one sent to the capitol of our state. Capitol,” Campbell said via phone.
The head of the department responsible for Alaska State Capitol operations, Jessica Geary, said in an email that threats were discovered from Legislative Information Office inboxes for Anchorage, Cordova and Bethel.
Geary said security personnel searched inside the Capitol building and concluded there was no threat of attack. She added that she reported the issue to the FBI as well as local police.
Juneau police have announced through social networks that a church in downtown Juneau was also targeted by a bomb on Wednesday. Campbell stated that police are not convinced there’s an imminent threat in Juneau however they are working with the property’s proprietor to plan any needed action. Campbell stated that he is not aware of any reason for the threat.
NPR announced on that on Wednesday that state capitols within Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi as well as different states have been evacuated following getting similar threat. The FBI in a statement made to NPR stated that it was “aware of incidents of hoax wherein an attack on a building of the state Capitol building is reported.”
The FBI statement said that it “had no evidence to suggest an imminent and credible threat” and that it will continue to work in partnership with police agencies to gather data and then respond.
