Central PA hoax bomb threats
Penn State University https://www.wearecentralpa.com/news/breaking-penn-state-police-and-fbi-investigate-bomb-threats/1658037047
University Park, Centre County, Pa. - Penn State have confirmed that they have received bomb threats to multiple buildings at their main campus in University Park.
Penn State University Police retweeted a post from PSU Alert UPark that said police and the FBI are investigating. At this time, police say this does not appear to be a legitimate threat, but the investigation is ongoing.
Individuals in the following buildings on campus received the message, which was sent by email: Rider Building; the University Park Airport; Tyson Building; Johnston/Findlay Commons in East Halls; the Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Henning Building, Redifer Commons and the Greenburg Complex.
Police will be in these locations until further notice. According to police, there is no need to evacuate at this time, and the campus remains open. Classes are continuing as scheduled.
Claim bomb threats traced to Russia https://www.wearecentralpa.com/news/bomb-threats-nationwide-cause-evacuations/1658135647
New York - Bomb threats across the country Thursday included schools, and universities, media outlets and businesses.
In most if not all cases, the threats demand a $20,000 payment in Bit Coin by the end of the day or the bomb explodes. The threat also indicates that this is not a one time action.
Police have been extremely busy around the country including multiple locations at Penn State's Main Campus, evacuating buildings and shutting down streets. The Tribune Democrat in Johnstown received the email hoax at 1:05. The editor of the newspaper, Chip Minemyer tells WTAJ that police have traced it to a location in Russia.
So far, no credible threats have been reported. This has been identified as a large scale hoax, or automated spam. Multiple news outlets and individuals on twitter have shared the image of the email. Police are asking everyone who gets a threat to save the email and contact local law enforcement.
Cambria County PA https://www.tribdem.com/news/police-email-threat-believed-to-be-a-scam/article_f5c82a32-ff14-11e8-af45-975153c7013a.html
A mass email prompted brief evacuations to several buildings across the region, including the Cambria County Courthouse and The Tribune-Democrat, before police sweeps cleared them to reopen.
An employee at the newspaper was among many office workers across the area who received the vague, spam-style email, which wasn't addressed to anyone in particular, maintaining that a recruit hid an explosive device inside "the building where your business is located."
The author, listed in the email as "Martine Kimebaugh," claimed it would be detonated by remote if "20.000 dollars" in bitcoin wasn't transferred to an account linked to the email.
Johnstown police evacuated the newspaper's building and neighboring Central Park Complex, which includes county offices and Press Bistro.
The Cambria County Courthouse in Ebensburg and all other county buildings were also evacuated shortly after 1 p.m.
County sheriffs deputies and maintenance staff went through the building to make sure all department staff evacuated before a sweep got underway.
In downtown Johnstown, police officers secured the area and conducted a search. A crowd of nearly 100 employees was urged to move onto Main Street, a block away, before being permitted to return 20 minutes later.
"When something like this occurs, you have to treat it as real until you approve otherwise. What helped is that we already had steps in place to quickly assemble personnel and a bomb (detection) dog to quickly respond and investigate," police Chief Robert Johnson said.
He said police obtained a copy of the email and the FBI was contacted.
The email's source was tracked to an IP address in Russia, Johnson added.
State officials looking into the matter said the email was believed to be a nationwide scam or "hoax."
Penn State University alerted its students of unspecified threats Thursday but later permitted students to resume classes.