BY ANDREAS YILMA
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
NAUGATUCK — A couple of bomb threats at two borough grocery stores on July 29 turned out to be false reports.
Naugatuck Police initially responded to Walmart at 1100 New Haven Road at about 3:45 p.m. for a report of a store employee who received a bomb threat by phone. The caller said a bomb was in the bathroom and was set to go off in two minutes.
Walmart was evacuated before two state police Fire Explosive Investigation Unit K9s for bomb detection swept the store before it was cleared at 5 p.m., according to a police news release.
As police were on scene at Walmart, an employee of Stop & Shop at 727 Rubber Avenue, called police stating they had just received a bomb threat by phone as well. At the same time, police dispatch also received another call where a person claimed a bomb was placed in the bathroom at Stop & Shop and they were armed with a firearm, the release states.
About two dozen Stop & Shop employees could be seen standing and waiting outside in the parking lot. The store was swept and cleared to reopen at 5:45 p.m.
Naugatuck Police Chief Colin McAllister said there is an active ongoing investigation into both incidents.
“This obviously falsely reporting an incident like this is a serious offense and we’ll investigate it as such,” McAllister said.
In addition to the two bomb threats, there was a report at Stop & Shop location of a person who was armed with a firearm. However no person was found, McAllister said.
“We’re going to run through all the aspects of it, check surveillance footage,” McAllister said. “We’ll also be looking at any other aspect as far as calls and. It’s still active.
