Bomb threat evacuates Greene County Courthouse
Officers use dogs to sweep the grounds of the Greene County Courthouse following a bomb threat in June.
Samantha Karam/For the Observer-Reporter
An officer uses a dog to sweep the grounds of the Greene County Courthouse following a bomb threat Thursday.
Greene County Court employees were allowed back in the courthouse before noon Thursday after a bomb threat had been called in and the building evacuated.
Court Administrator Sheila Rode said the threat was discovered Thursday morning on a phone in the office of Public Defender Harry Cancelmi.
“We evacuated immediately,” she said.
Waynesburg police Officer Tom Ankrom, who is investigating along with the county sheriff’s department, said they do have “leads” in the case, but would not specify any suspects.
Interim Sheriff Marcus Simms said his department was notified Thursday morning of a security breach that happened at the courthouse Wednesday night, after his security staff left for the day. He said they are investigating whether that breach is related to the bomb threat.
Three K-9 units from Pittsburgh arrived Thursday morning and completed a “thorough search” of the courthouse, looking for any potential threats such as bombs or guns, Ankrom said.
“Everything appears to be fine,” Ankrom said after the search.
Neither Ankrom nor Simms would confirm if the incident was related in any way to a jury trial that was supposed to take place Thursday morning before President Judge Farley Toothman. The defendant in the trial is Danny McElroy, facing two felony firearms charges. Toothman said that due to the evacuation, he had to declare a mistrial.
Nearby streets, including South Washington and Church streets, were blocked off for hours during the investigation. Law enforcement officers from the Greene County Prison and state police also assisted at the scene.
Nearby businesses like 5 Kidz Kandy and the ManKind barbershop offered cookies and coffee to the officers, who were standing out in the rain for much of the morning.