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Bomb Threats Called in at JCCs in Several US States, None Hurt

What to Know

  • Threats were called in to Jewish centers in five states Monday
  • Federal authorities are joining local law enforcement in the investigation
  • No injuries have been reported and sweeps of the evacuated buildings have not turned up any explosive devices

Bomb threats were made against Jewish Community Centers in several states Monday, prompting evacuations. 

Threats were made to at least seven JCCs in Florida, New Jersey, Delaware, Tennessee and North Carolina, according to police and local news reports. It wasn't clear if they were connected. 

No injuries or actual explosives have been reported.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is aware of the threats, national spokesman Dillon McConnell said. He did not say whether the incidents were linked.

NBC reached out to the FBI for comment as well.

In the Miami area, two JCCs were evacuated within minutes of each other after phoned-in threats. Authorities swept both buildings, where students were in class, and found no explosives, NBC Miami reported.

The JCC on Palisades in Tenafly, New Jersey, sent out a text alert saying it evacuated after a bomb threat shortly after noon, according to NBC New York. The precise nature of the threat wasn't clear, but the JCC said police were investigating and people were seen walking back into the building about 90 minutes after the text was sent. 

Police in Wilmington, Delaware, were investigating a bomb threat at the Siegel Jewish Community Center, according to a statement. 

The Jewish Community Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, also received a bomb threat, told NBC News that a sweep was conducted "out of an abundance of caution," with no threats discovered.

And in West Nashville, Tennessee, the majority of about 100 people in the Gordon Jewish Community Center were evacuated after a bomb threat was called in to the desk, the Tennessean reported. There, too, the all-clear was called.

Last week, bomb threats targeted two Jewish centers in central Florida and two Jewish preschools in Tampa. Authorities said no explosives were found.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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