PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Police are considering the possibility that the bomb threat scares Thursday may be linked to a robbery of Dawes Avenue Variety.

 

Police Chief Michael Wynn says threats were made to 15 different targets spanning five communities Thursday. The call was made to the Pittsfield Police Department Communications Center around 1 :30 and originated from Walmart at 555 Hubbard Avenue, according to a statement by Wynn. He said the "call was barely understandable and possibly electronically altered."

 

Communications staff deciphered the call to be a threat against 15 targets in five towns that included schools, government facilities, and other infrastructure locations.

 

"Once the list was deciphered and developed, communications personnel immediately began notifying the other jurisdictions, as well as dispatching units to Walmart and notifying Department resources. Local notifications were also initiated," Wynn wrote. "Communications personnel were also able to determine that the original call contained a specific time deadline for action and an indication that the caller would call back at the expiration of that deadline."

 

Wynn said because of difficulty in deciphering the message and such a long list of locations, the initial response took time. During the initial response, the deadline in the message had passed without incident and no followup call was made. It was determined the threat was not credible. 

 

"Department personnel determined that the threat was less than credible and shifted from the initial response into the  investigative phase. At this point, notifications were halted," Wynn wrote. "At this point, no additional information on the listed target locations or the call is being released, pending outcome of the ongoing investigation."

 

The notifications caused responses in at least four towns. Lanesborough, Cheshire and Dalton all had threats to locations and performed some level of security measures at the schools. Lenox went so far as to evacuate the middle and high school. 

 

During the response, Pittsfield Police received a report of an armed robbery at the Dawes Avenue Variety around 2 p.m.. The response to that call included officers conducting an area search for the suspect, according to scanner calls at that time. 

 

Police at first considered the incidents separate but have since determined the bomb threat call and the robbery could be linked.

 

"On the basis of information developed overnight, the Department is now investigating the possibility that the initial call for the bomb threat may be related to the subsequent robbery. This incident remains under active investigation," Wynn wrote.

 

Wynn asks anyone with information or had seen anybody at the pay-phone at Walmart between 1:30 and 2 p.m. to contact the detective bureau.