Chetham County Courthouse, one of 24 in Tennessee that were evacuated this morning after bomb threats.
In total, 24 courthouses across Tennessee have been evacuated after a bomb threat was phoned in this morning. Cheatham county, along with Bedford, Bolivar, Franklin, Blount, Hamblen, Campbell, Hardin, Greene, and Hanock counties all had their courts evacuated. Threats were also made to the Federal Buildings in downtown Memphis, as well as the the Post Office and the Criminal Justice Center.
The phone calls were made to each of the court’s county clerk offices at around 9 a.m. local time today.
According to WREG Memphis, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security say it is:
monitoring the situation and assisting local law enforcement agencies as needed.”
A string of government buildings received the threat, believed to have all been made by woman, who is as yet unknown to police.
All of the buildings have been searched and no devices have been found.
According to state legislature candidate for Tennessee’s 4th District, Thom Gray:
Mayor Leon Humphrey says the bomb threat at the Carter County Courthouse came by a robocall.
— Thom Gray (@ThomGrayTN) November 27, 2012
The full breakdown of the courthouses in question are seven in West Tennessee, four in Middle Tennessee and 13 in East Tennessee.
According to WJHL, the Sheriff’s Office are in control of the situation, other courthouses that were not mentioned in the threats were also searched as a precaution.
This threat is similar to the hoax in Oregon last week which led to the evacuation of 28 courthouses.