Building evacuated after bomb threat

Circuit Court Judge Viola Taliaferro decided to evacuate the Monroe County Justice Building Monday afternoon after a bomb threat was phoned in earlier that morning.\nCounty employees left work for the day at about 2 p.m., when the building was closed down as a security precaution. Monroe County Sheriff Steve Sharp said the threat turned out to be immaterial.\nA male still at large called the Monroe County Court Services administrative office at about 9 a.m. Monday. He told an unidentified secretary that a bomb was in the building and that "they locked up my brother last year."\nThe phone call was brief and could not be traced, Sharp said. \n"We've requested information from the local phone service," he said. "We'll try to track the guy down."\nIn Indiana, calling in a bomb threat usually results in a charge of false informing, a class D felony. Under standard sentencing, it can carry up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. \nShortly after the phoned threat came in, sheriff's deputies cleared out the building and conducted a thorough inspection, Sharp said.\n"They didn't find anything out of the ordinary."\nAfter calmly milling outside for about half and hour, the county employees returned to work. Taliaferro, the presiding judge, decided she'd be more comfortable if dogs were brought in to scour the premises.\n"I was concerned with the welfare and safety of all of our employees," she said. "There's no way of knowing whether the threat was serious.\n"When you can only speculate, it's better not to wait and see if it's serious."\nTaliaferro said the prank was in poor taste, especially after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon Sept. 11.\n"There's no denying that (this individual was unbalanced)," she said. "This is a time of national grief. We're still in the process of mourning." \nIn keeping with emergency protocol, Sharp ordered the building evacuated and shut down for the day. Staff remained on duty at the sheriff's office and the Monroe County Correctional Facility, which are both housed in the Justice Building.\nSheriff's deputies again searched the building with explosive-sniffing dogs brought in from the Martinsville Police Department and the Crane Naval Warfare Center near Bedford. Crane loaned the specially trained dog despite being on high security alert, following an executive order issued by President George W. Bush.\n"We have a mutual support agreement with local law enforcement," said Sue Webster, Crane's public affairs officer. "And we intend to honor it in spite of everything."\nIt's not often that Crane deploys its bomb squad, Webster said.\n"I can't even remember the last time we had to," she said. "It's very rare that we have to respond to a bomb threat"