The Arnold Walmart had to be evacuated for a fourth time in a two-day period Tuesday evening (Feb. 22), and the Arnold Target store also had to be evacuated following bomb threats called into 911. Explosives were not found in the stores and both locations were open this morning (Feb. 23) as scheduled, Arnold Police reported.
The first threat Tuesday night was reported at 9:51 p.m. when someone called 911 and said there were three bombs in the Target store, 3849 Vogel Road, that would explode in five minutes. The call was traced to a cell phone tower in St. Louis County, but authorities were unable to pinpoint who made the call, Detective Lt. Jason Valentine said.
At 10:12 p.m., someone called 911 and said a bomb was in the Walmart store, 2201 Michigan Ave. This time the call was traced to an area near the store, but again, authorities could not locate the person making the call, Valentine said.
After each call, the businesses were evacuated, and dogs trained to detect explosives were brought in from the St. Louis County, Creve Coeur and St. Charles Police Departments to search the store, the report said.
Arnold Police dogs are only trained to detect narcotics after the department recently retired its one bomb-sniffing dog, Valentine said.
He also said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents helped with the search at Target.
On Monday, Walmart was closed from about 3-8 a.m. after someone called the store with a bomb threat, but no explosives were found in the building, Cpl. Brett Ackermann said.
On Tuesday, a threatening call against Walmart was made at about 1 a.m., and a second threatening call was made at about 5:30 a.m. No explosive devices were found after either of those calls to 911, Valentine said.
He said Arnold Police will increase its patrols at the businesses today, but investigators do not believe anyone is in danger.