Update: SLO County courthouse reopens after evacuation, search due to threat
Update 2 p.m.:
The San Luis Obispo Superior Court courthouse has reopened after a search of the building. Nothing suspicious was found in the search and courthouse operations have resumed, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Original story:
The San Luis Obispo County courthouse was cleared due an unidentified threat on Tuesday morning.
San Luis Obispo Superior Court senior administration director Geoff O’Quest said courthouse staff received a notification from law enforcement at around 8 a.m. Tuesday that there had been at least one threat to the building at 1050 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo.
Out of an abundance of caution, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office sent bomb-sniffing dogs in the building and evacuated staff, the court spokesman said.
Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, the presiding judge made the decision to reschedule the morning’s hearings to the afternoon, with jurors, judges, attorneys and staff members set to return at 1:30 p.m. to avoid congregations of people waiting outside the courthouse.
This is the third time the courthouse has been evacuated since coronavirus precautions went into effect in March 2020.
In May, a Los Osos couple was arrested for allegedly phoning in a bomb threat on the day that one of the two was to be taken into custody. But officials said the threat was phoned in late; the defendant had already been taken into custody at that point.
Charges are still pending in that case.
In November, the building was evacuated due to a fire alarm that went off in the downstairs law library.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 9:52 AM.
