The bomb threat that evacuated the Okanagan Landing Plaza Tuesday turned out to be a prank call.
The call came into the McDonald’s, forcing evacuation of the restaurant, plus the entire surrounding plaza and Tim Hortons.
“We had a multiple unit response and we had a specialized bomb sniffing dog that attended,” said Sgt. Mike Moyer, following the nearly three hour evacuation.
“Everything was safe. Everything checked out.”
While the prank call was deemed false, RCMP are taking the matter very seriously.
“We still will be investigating as a mischief call and we’ll be seeking an arrest on an individual.”
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A possible bomb threat caused considerable excitement in the Okanagan Landing area Tuesday afternoon.
Police were alerted to a potential bomb threat at the McDonald’s in the Okanagan Landing Plaza Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
The entire plaza, including Tim Hortons, was evacuated for several hours while RCMP awaited a bomb-sniffing dog to arrive from Kelowna.
But even upon their initial investigation, officers said it was “a potentially false call.”
“Calls of this nature we take very seriously,” said Sgt. Mike Moyer, while on scene. “Even if it is false.”
The scene was cleared and the evacuation order lifted by 4:30 p.m.
Isaac Coombs, 14, and Matt Latham, 13, were at McDonald’s when the incident took place.
“It’s pretty scary,” said Latham.
“They almost didn’t let us grab our bikes,” added Coombs.
Noel Somersgill, a cashier at Buy-Low, was working when a police officer told her to evacuate the store due to a bomb threat.
“I asked if he was serious and he said yes.”
Despite the store losing several hours of business, she was pleased with the response.
“You can’t take a threat not seriously because what if it’s not.”
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RCMP are currently investigating a bomb threat at the McDonald’s at the Okanagan Landing Plaza.
Approximately 20 people have been evacuated from businesses in the plaza as well as Tim Hortons.
It is believed false but police are taking the matter seriously. They are awaiting the bomb dog unit from Kelowna before the scene will be cleared.
Traffic is being diverted around Okanagan Landing Road.
