Police say no devices found, but investigation continues into bomb threat that caused evacuation of Aurora library branches
No devices were found as police searched Aurora’s three public library branches after a bomb threat Tuesday afternoon caused the evacuation of the facilities.
All three library branches reopened for regular services by late Tuesday afternoon.
Police said while the incident in Aurora appears to be a hoax, they continue to investigate the bomb threat. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Aurora Police Department Investigations Division at 630-256-5500.
Aurora Police Department spokesman Lt. Joseph Howe said police began investigating the threat around 2:30 p.m. and that due to the report, everyone was evacuated from the three library branches at 101 S. River St., 555 S. Eola Road and 233 S. Constitution Ave.
The library received the threat through an online source, police said. A physical search of each location was conducted and no devices were located.
The threat was initially targeted at the Santori Public Library at 101 S. River St., police said, with officers deployed to all three library sites.
The Santori library was officially cleared as safe by police at 3:45 p.m., the West Branch at 4:10 p.m. and the Eola Road Branch at 5:37 p.m., police said. After each location was cleared, they resumed normal business hours and services, according to police.
River Street was closed for a while in both directions between Cross Street and Benton Street downtown due to the investigation Tuesday, police said, but the street reopened later in the afternoon.
The library buildings in Aurora weren’t the only ones dealing with a bomb threat Tuesday in the Chicago area. Evanston police officers responded to the Evanston Public Library in the 1700 block of Orrington Avenue for a report of a bomb threat Tuesday, officials said.
Schaumburg police on Tuesday were investigating a bomb threat at the Schaumburg Township District Library that was received in an online chat, according to a post on the village of Schaumburg’s Facebook page. The post late Tuesday afternoon said police responded quickly to the incident and that nothing suspicious had been found at the time. The library was evacuated “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the post.
Several libraries across the northern suburbs received bomb threats on Aug. 17 and 20, and while police found no bombs, the libraries responded by shutting down in order to calm shaken employees and patrons.
In the Aurora area, Naperville Public Library Executive Director David Della Terza said the Naperville libraries have not received any bomb threats. He said a lot of the libraries have received the threats anonymously through chat services online, and the Naperville library branches have turned the chats off.
Chat services is an online tool that allows patrons to chat through instant messaging with staff.
The Gail Borden Public Library District in Elgin has not received any bomb threats either, officials said.
Immediate attempts to reach the Aurora Public Library District were unsuccessful.
