SLO Courthouse bomb threat came from prepaid cell phone. Police want to know who bought it
San Luis Obispo police are searching for a man who apparently bought a prepaid cell phone that was used Wednesday to call in a bomb threat at the San Luis Obispo County courthouse.
The courthouse was evacuated Wednesday morning in the middle of several hearings, and downtown city streets within a block of the building were cordoned off or more than three hours.
At approximately 10:45 a.m., police were told a female called an employee at the San Luis Obispo County Government Center across the street from the courthouse and said there were two bombs inside the Superior Courthouse Annex, the police department in a news release late Wednesday.
A perimeter was set up and police evacuated the building while people inside the government center were told to remain in place, according to scanner traffic.
Two local people leaving the courthouse who wished to remain anonymous said they were in the middle of a hearing when a bailiff came in and quickly ushered everyone out of the courtroom.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and California State Parks conducted a search of the courthouse and government center with bomb-sniffing dogs.
No explosives or anything suspicious in nature was found during the searches, police said.
The courthouse was reopened at about 2:30 p.m., according to San Luis Obispo Superior Court CEO Michael Powell. Hearings that didn’t happen Wednesday were rescheduled for Thursday, he said.
The police department said its Investigations Bureau conducted a records check on the phone number used by the caller to make the bomb threat, which belonged to a prepaid cell phone which was purchased at a business in San Luis Obispo the department did not name.
The news release did not say when the phone was purchased.
Police said it is unknown if the man captured on surveillance footage purchasing the phone was the person who made the bomb threat.
The investigation is ongoing Anyone with information about the man depicted in the photos is asked to contact the San Luis Obispo Police Department, or Crime Stoppers at 805-549-7867.
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 11:21 AM.
