By Rolf Boone / The Olympian
For the fifth consecutive Wednesday, a man called in a bomb threat to a Washington state office building. And for the second time since Sept. 26, he targeted the state Department of Health, according to Tumwater police.
That’s according to Lt. Jen Kolb, who said Building 2 at Town Center East on Israel Road was evacuated about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. And as with all of the previous threats, Tumwater police and the Washington State Patrol bomb squad responded.
Employees in that building were sent home.
“We think it’s the same guy,” Kolb said, adding that law enforcement has narrowed it down to a possible suspect.
“It’s a drain on our resources,” Kolb said, “and it’s frustrating for state employees and law enforcement.”
The bomb threats began Sept. 26 and since have been called in every Wednesday: Oct. 3, Oct. 10 and Oct. 17.
The bomb threats have twice targeted the state Attorney General’s office, twice targeted the state Department of Health and the state Highways and Licensing building.
However, it is the sixth bomb threat overall because there was a bomb threat and suspicious package reported on the Capitol Campus last Thursday.
The latest local incident coincided with pipe bombs targeting Democrats on the East Coast on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
Pipe-bombs were sent by mail to Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, other prominent Democrats and CNN, but they were diffused without physical harm to anyone.
The first crude bomb to be discovered had been delivered Monday to the suburban New York compound of George Soros, a liberal billionaire and major contributor to Democratic causes, AP reported. The FBI said an additional package was intended for former Attorney General Eric Holder but that one ended up at a Florida office of Democratic Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz, whose return address was on it.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
