FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
At about 6:40 PM, a male caller phoned in a bomb threat to the dispatch center. The caller referenced that there were “bombs in the building”, referring to the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office. The caller went on to say that there was a vehicle located in the parking lot that was also “packed with explosives.” The caller also made reference to “getting justice for Steven”, in an apparent reference to Steven Avery. Manitowoc Police Officers arrived to the scene and set up a perimeter around the area. Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Deputies as well as Two Rivers Police also assisted.
The Brown County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and their Bomb Squad was put on standby but did not report to the scene. Brown County did send down their bomb sniffing K9 with a Deputy who also assisted in clearing the area. No devices were located.
The interior of the Sheriff’s Office and the interior of the Courthouse were also checked by MTSO Deputies and no devices were located. There was no specific threat towards the Courthouse but it was checked as a precaution.
The area was deemed all clear at about 9:00 PM, but about 20 minutes later at 9:20 PM and second very similar call was again phoned in to the dispatch center. Manitowoc Police again responded to the scene to provide security for dispatch employees and Sheriff’s Office employees who were about to have a shift change. No suspicious activity or items were located in the area on this second deployment of Officers.
Manitowoc Police Investigators are currently working with members of the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation to work the call backwards to determine the origin of the call and the identity of the caller.
Manitowoc Police take these types of threats very seriously not only the safety of employees of the agencies involved, but also for the safety of the citizens of Manitowoc and the inmates currently incarcerated in the Manitowoc County jail.
