Grand Forks Police: Bomb Threats Part of Large-Scale Random Hoax

The demand stated the receiver's emails were being monitored, and police should not be notified.

May 30, 2017

Site Staff,

Grand Forks, ND – Grand Forks Police report two bomb threats appear to be part of a large-scale random hoax to scam businesses out of money.

Sunday, May 29 at 4:10 p.m., police received a call of a bomb threat at the Boden Apartments at 2900 Demers Ave.

A community-use printer had printed out a demand for money, which was to send electronically.

The demand stated the receiver’s emails were being monitored, and police should not be notified.

If demands were not met, the building would be blown up.

This morning at 9:10 a.m. Grand Forks Police received a similar call of a bomb threat at Turning Point Health and Fitness, 2424 32nd Avenue South.

In this case, a business printer was also used to print out a threat.

Again, it demanded that money be send electronically, or the entire block would be blown up.

Police searched both areas after the threat was made.

Nothing suspicious was located in any of the locations.

At this time, it appears that the threats were part of a large-scale random hoax in an attempt to scam different businesses out of money, as similar threats have been received in other areas of the United States.

The Grand Forks Police Department provided the following information in regard to the receipt of a bomb threat.

All threats should be taken seriously, until it can be determined otherwise.
If received over the phone, the receiver should get as much information as possible from the caller, to include type and location of a device.
The Police Department will not mandate an evacuation or closure of a business unless the situation is necessary to preserve the safety of any persons present. This decision is not taken lightly, and will be determined between police and business representatives, based upon all of the available information.
Should a suspicious device or item be located, 911 should be called immediately, and the item should be left alone and the area surrounding the item vacated until the area is deemed safe.If anybody has any further information about these two bomb threats or has received a similar threat, please call the Grand Forks Police Department at 701-787-8000.