ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Three metro Detroit Walmart stores were evacuated over bomb threats Monday in what the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office says may be part of a larger, nationwide effort.
The threats were made Monday at Walmart stores in Rochester Hills, White Lake and Canton.
Deborah Stephens was headed to her local Walmart in Rochester Hills when the threat was made.
"He just said, 'You don't want to go in there. There’s a bomb threat,'” Stephens recalled being told when she arrived.
Authorities swept the buildings with assistance from K-9s with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives before eventually getting the all-clear after nothing was found.
“Just going shopping and then you hear something like that? That’s scary," Stephens said. "It makes you not want to come to a store because you never know when you go in, you may not come out. That's scary."
Around the same time, a threat was also made at the White Lake Walmart, with the caller demanding a ransom in both cases.
Similar threats were reported at Walmart stores in Canton and Coldwater. Less than 24 hours earlier, another similar threat was made at a Walmart in Holland, Ohio just outside of Toledo.
“My intuitive guess is it’s someone who has something to complain about with Walmart and feels this is their avenue," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. "They’ve made a very big mistake.”
Bouchard says it appears to be a nationwide effort targeting Walmarts across the country. Bouchard said he knew of cases in other states including California and Hawaii.
“My guess is it’s happened more times than we’re aware of, and that will begin to gain some steam in terms of law enforcement sharing this information,” Bouchard said.
Bouchard says threats like this have been on the rise in the last two to three years, using up valuable time and resources of local agencies.
“We get threats against schools, houses of worship and workplaces everyday," Bouchard said. "We had three on Friday, we've already had two or three in Oakland County today.”
Meanwhile, these threats leave shoppers like Stephens worried, hoping law enforcement finds those responsible.
“We got enough going on in our country now, just so much, you know? It’s sad," Stephens said.
