SEQUIM — A bomb scare led to a short evacuation of Home Depot in Sequim this afternoon (Wednesday).
The Home Depot store at 1145 W. Washington St., received a call at about 1:45 p.m. in which a caller demanded gift card codes in exchange for not blowing up the store, according to the Sequim Police Department.
“Home Depot chose to evacuate the building,” Lt. Sheri Crane said.
The building was closed for about 35 minutes while police swept the building for possible bombs, Crane said.
They found nothing.
“There was nothing to suggest an actual bomb,” Crane said.
Crane said that the police department called the FBI and learned that the call was similar to scams called in to U.S. corporations recently.
“This has a lot more scam qualities than bomb threat,” she said.
The caller had a Middle-Eastern accent, and the call was made on a pre-paid “burner” phone from the East Coast, store employees reported to the police.
“It was unusual,” Crane said. “This hasn’t happened in Sequim before.”
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
