The Home Depot on Route 58 was the target of a bomb threat Monday. No bomb was found. (Image credit: Chris Francescani)
On Highway 58 in Riverhead Monday morning, the Home Depot received a bomb threat call, prompting an evacuation and a search by police with bomb-sniffing dogs. Home Depot management evacuated the store and contacted Riverhead police after receiving threats “without specific details given”.
Police cordoned off the Riverhead Center mall, where Home Depot is located, and evacuated stores near the mall, including ShopRite, Best Buy, Chase bank and Barnes & Noblein other stores.
Emergency services and K-9 units from Suffolk Police Service searched the store. Riverhead Police said no suspicious activity or bomb-making material was found.
The mall was closed for several hours but reopened to customers shortly after 11am.
One Home Depot employee described the early morning incident as “off the set of a movie.”
By 11:15 a.m., the store was packed with customers, many of whom were oblivious to the earlier panic. A Home Depot manager declined to comment, citing instructions from company headquarters.
The Federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, provides extensive guidance What to do if faced with a bomb threat.
