Police Tape

A bomb threat led to an evacuation Friday morning at the Cullman County Courthouse, clearing the building for more than an hour as investigators conducted a thorough search before signaling no device was present and the building was safe.

Placed by phone, Friday’s alarm marks the third bomb threat made to an area location within the past month, following a pair of bomb threats at local schools in August. Cullman County Sheriff’s investigators, as well as the Cullman Police Department, responded at the courthouse and are following up with an investigation into the source of the phone call.

Threatening with a bomb or similar injurious device is far from a prank, said sheriff Matt Gentry; it’s a crime, he said, that can carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. “It falls under the category of making a terroristic threat, which is a felony offense,” said Gentry.

Whether a device is actually present has no bearing on the charge: an offender who causes an evacuation of a building, a school, or creates “other serious public inconvenience” by threatening violence, according to the law, will face prosecution for making a terrorist threat — a Class C felony — if apprehended.

Sheriff’s investigators conducted the bomb search inside the courthouse Friday, while the Cullman Police Department searched the building’s grounds and exterior. Gentry said the evacuation displaced workers and visitors from the building for about an hour and half before law enforcement gave the all-clear.

“Our investigators are currently pursuing avenues to identify the person who made the threat,” said Gentry. “Even when someone is trying to be anonymous, there are ways to conduct an investigation of this nature. It may take some time. But in the majority of cases, we have a lot of success in identifying the offender.”