Businesses and schools among top targets for bomb threats
Businesses and schools remain among the top targets for bomb threats, according to the United States Bomb Data Center.
In the last month, there have been four bomb threats investigated in mid-Missouri.
There was a bomb threat made at the Midway truck stop in January, two threats made at the Columbia Mall and the Moser’s on Keene Street in February, and a threat made at Fulton City Hall on Feb. 13.
All four of them turned out to be unfounded.
“The people who traditionally make bomb threats, don’t build bombs,” said Paul Fennewald, a former bomb technician, as well as the former Homeland Security Coordinator.. “The people that build bombs and want to kill people don’t make a bomb threat.”
While they may have turned out to be hoaxes, Fennewald said that shouldn’t stop businesses and schools from being vigilant about security.
He said they should invest in things like cameras and strong lighting. He also recommends keeping areas free of clutter so that suspicious packages can easily be identified.
If there is a threat, he said law enforcement should be called. Then, assess the situation. Fennewald said thinking through potential reasons for a bomb threat could be life-saving.
“Is this one in a series of threats that have all been hoaxes, is there something going on that would be logical why a person would make this threat?'” he said.
Then, employers or school administrators should decide whether or not to evacuate. Sometimes, Fennewald said, evacuation isn’t the safest plan.
“If someone really wanted to kill (them), they’d call in a bomb threat, see where they evacuate to, and then next time put the bomb in that location,” he said.
It’s cliche, but Fennewald maintains that if you see something suspicious, you need to say something.
“If you do that basic due diligence, 99.9 percent of the time you’re going to be okay.” he said.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol has several publications that can help businesses and schools assess bomb related threats.
Here is a link to a Bomb Threats and Searching Techniques pamphlet.
There is also a bomb threat checklist attached to this story.
