PROVO, Utah — An active bomb threat forced the closure of several government buildings in Provo on Tuesday, with police sharing that threatening calls were also placed to other cities in Utah, including West Valley City.
Officials said an employee of Utah County received a call just after 10 a.m. from a man who said there was a bomb in the Utah County Government complex's parking structure. He said he was watching the area and that the bomb would go off 34 minutes from the time of the call.
"They gave a timer for a countdown and said that if the bomb didn’t go off, then they would start shooting all the government people," Provo Police Lt. Chet Whatcott said.
Provo Police deemed the threat as credible, and around 200 employees were evacuated. The office building at 100 E. Center Street was closed, along with the courthouse on the same campus.
The Health and Justice Building was later closed by Provo Police. Calls were also received about threats to the Provo Library and a local credit union. The calls appeared to be placed by the same person.
"We’ve been trying to track the numbers," Whatcott said. "We’ve been trying to follow up on any leads that have been given to us. Right now, the information is that they're spoof numbers, which makes them hard to track."
Police brought in bomb-sniffing dogs and swept the buildings, eventually clearing them of any threat.
"Whoever was calling in was doing this to get a reaction from us," Whatcott said.
Utah County officials said the Administration Building, Historic Courthouse, and Health and Justice Building will remain closed for the rest of the day as a precaution.
Provo police share details on bomb threat calls that led to buildings being evacuated:
Law enforcement officials in West Valley City said two businesses in the area, a bank and a Dollar Store, received calls claiming a vehicle in their parking lots contained bombs; however, a search by officers found the claims to be unfounded.
