Series of bomb threats against Lexington Wal-Mart stores

Police are investigating after a series of bomb threats against several Wal-Mart stores in Lexington over the last three days.

Police and fire officials were dispatched to the Wal-Mart on Nicholasville Road about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday for the fourth threat.

Wal-Mart stores on New Circle Road and Saron Drive received threats Sunday, and the store on Richmond Road received a threat earlier Tuesday, police Lt. Jackie Newman said. In each case the caller made similar threats, she said.

In cases like this, Newman said officers often don’t know specifically what they are looking for, so they must rely on trained police dogs. The dogs are able to sense the components of explosives, Newman said.

While officers with dogs worked to clear the store on Nicholasville Road on Tuesday, employees and customers had to remain outside. The search took about an hour, and no explosives were found.

“That’s time that the employees are having to be paid by Wal-Mart, that they’re losing retail business,” Newman said. “And officers are out here working the location when there’s other things going on in the city. We do take things like this very seriously.”

Investigators are working to determine what phone number the calls are coming from, Newman said. Officers have filed a report for terroristic threatening and expect to file charges when the person responsible is found.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 11:16 PM with the headline "Series of bomb threats against Lexington Wal-Mart stores."