Barstow PD shutters local bank due to bomb threat; area cleared as safe
Barstow PD briefly closed a local bank while investigating a bomb threat that was cleared with the help of a bomb-sniffing U.S. Marine Corps dog.
The Barstow branch of Desert Community Bank had to shut down shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday when local police arrived to investigate the bomb threat, according to a Facebook post.
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By 2:30 p.m., the department followed up with a post that the area had been deemed safe. The post said officers responded to "a threat of a bomb" around 12:38 p.m. and "established a perimeter of the area" around the bank.
"A bomb detection K9 from the Marine Corps Logistic Base [Barstow] responded to the scene and conducted an interior and exterior search of the building and rendered it safe," the department said in the post. "Barstow Police officers then conducted an additional search of the area and confirmed that it was safe."
The department declined a request Thursday for further information about the bomb threat.
Charlie McGee covers California’s High Desert for the Daily Press, focusing on the city of Barstow and its surrounding communities. He is also a Report for America corps member with The GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and worldwide. McGee may be reached at 760-955-5341 or cmcgee@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @bycharliemcgee.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Barstow PD shutters bank for bomb threat, clears area within 2 hours
