An Augusta woman is facing charges after allegedly creating a bomb threat that led to the evacuation of a Walmart stores in Augusta on Thursday.
Emily Crocker, 19, was charged with terrorizing and theft, in connection with a note threatening a bomb left inside a women’s bathroom at the Augusta Walmart on Civic Center Drive, said Augusta Police Sgt. Christopher Shaw.
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Crocker, a former store employee, reported the threat and evacuated the store along with employees and patrons, Shaw said. She later admitted writing the note to police, Shaw said.
Customers and employees were forced from the Augusta Walmart for about an hour as police and firefighters searched the store with a bomb-sniffing dog.
“There were negative results,” Shaw said.
The threat — the second bomb scare this week at the Augusta store — was reported around 3:30 p.m., just hours after the Skowhegan Walmart was also evacuated and the parking lot sealed after a bomb threat was found in a women’s rest room.
In Skowhegan, holiday shoppers waited outside for about two hours for police to reopen the store. Nothing suspicious was found.
Skowhegan store manager Paul Conklin said police and Walmart officials are reviewing footage from video monitors to track a possible suspect.
Skowhegan police Detective Daniel Summers said the message was one word on a ladies’ room stall.
“It was reported by one of the employees — checks are done every half hour to the bathrooms, so it was done today,” he said. “It said ‘b-o-m-b,’ written in black marker on the wall. We did a cursory search making sure nobody was in the building.”
Summers said Walmart officials in Waterville also were alerted Thursday and were doing a security check for a possible copycat.
Waterville Walmart Supercenter manager Janet Deans said she could not comment on the report. A call placed to the media relations office at Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., was not immediately returned Thursday.
Deputy Waterville Police Chief Charles Rumsey III said his department had not been alerted Thursday to any possible threat at the store on Waterville Commons Drive.
The bomb scare in Skowhegan was reported just before 10:30 a.m. A state police bomb-sniffing dog was called to the scene with its handler.
“We were walking in, and all the customers were coming out saying ‘They’re evacuating the store,'” said Walmart shopper Becky Williams, of Madison. “They were very professional when they had us all walking out. They were calm. I think they have been very well trained. There was no running, pushing — no one screaming ‘bomb threat.'”
Gil Marshall of East Madison said he was outside the store with a Salvation Army bucket, ringing his bell when he was told to leave the area because of the bomb scare. He said he lost two hours of possible donations because of the threat.
Summers said the store and the parking lot were full of holiday shoppers when the threat came in.
Bonneau said a bomb threat is a very serious crime, punishable by jail time.
“To cause the evacuation of a building is terrorizing — it’s a felony,” Bonneau said.
The Augusta Walmart was evacuated shortly after 4 p.m., Sunday, after a bomb threat was found written on a wall inside a bathroom. Police and store managers quickly determined the threat was old, according to police, and customers were able to return within a half hour.
Craig Crosby — 621-5642
ccrosby@centralmaine.com
Doug Harlow — 474-9534
dharlow@centralmaine.com
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