Cochrane Safeway and the connected strip mall were on lockdown and evacuated Nov 14, after a call came in for a possible bomb threat. Cochrane RCMP Corp. Gary Fedrau said at roughly 11:15 a.m.
Cochrane Safeway and the connected strip mall were on lockdown and evacuated Nov 14, after a call came in for a possible bomb threat.
Cochrane RCMP Corp. Gary Fedrau said at roughly 11:15 a.m. that the store manager of the Cochrane Safeway, located at 304 5th Ave., received a “threatening call ” making demands.
“This morning the manager of the store received a call from unknown individuals making demands of the store, saying that there was going to possibly be an incident if they didn't pay some money, ” said Corp. Fedrau.
By approximately 11:26 a.m., RCMP had been dispatched and cordoned off the entire parking lot, emptying everyone and their vehicles from the premises.
“For safety protocol, we evacuated the store and ensured that everything was safe and so we could do a search of the area, ” he said.
RCMP closed down 5th Ave. between Griffin Road and Grand Ave. as quickly as they could, and within a hour the threat was deemed to be a hoax.
“From what we understand, there have been five different stores which have received similar phone calls, but the protocol is in place to make sure public safety is priority and we take all calls of this manor very serious, ” Fedrau said.
Safeway employees were let back into the building by just after 12 p.m. and patrons returned to their daily activities in the plaza shortly after that.
Two Safeway locations in Calgary (one being its head office) were also reported to have received a bomb threat Nov. 14. No arrests have yet been made.
