Visitors were evacuated and forced to travel away from Liberty Island on FridaView Posty after a report came in about a possible bomb threat. The New York City Police Department was on the scene and investigating the tourist attraction for anything suspicious. The bomb threat came in the form of a telephone call around 11 a.m. While on duty at the Statue of Liberty, police dogs found a suspicious scent on a package. At the time the call and the bomb threat were placed, the police department started ferrying all of the tourists off the island. There were a few thousand people visiting at the time. Ferries were backed up most of the afternoon. There were no injuries reported.
Bomb Threat
Sources say that the bomb threat was made from a telephone possibly with a generated computer voice. It was a pre-recorded message. It is said to have sounded like a voice from a hearing-impaired person. Police are trying to trace who was behind the phone call. The voice on the line stated that the bomb was in a locker at a major tourist attraction. That’s when police had considered the Statue of Liberty. To be safe, police traveled to the area and investigated. One of the security dogs found the scent of something suspicious in a visitor’s locker and the police immediately ordered an evacuation of the entire island. Police think that perhaps the dogs picked up the scent of gunpowder. However, gunpowder isn’t allowed at the tourist attraction either. One of the visitors said that security personnel came up to them and told them had to evacuate and would not give us any details. The police declared the area safe around 3:15 p.m. and informed the visitors that they may return for their belongings.
Re-open After Bomb Threat
Saturday morning the Statue of Liberty attraction reopened after the bomb threat, police and security were on high alert to ensure visitor safety and security. Those who had been forced to travel away from the attraction on Friday had been offered refunds or new tickets. The police also had bomb-sniffing dogs checking the ferries before and after each departure to provide further safety and security measures to visitors. Some visitors were concerned, where others were not. Lisa from Boston, said she really wasn’t very concerned about the bomb threat, but was excited to get out and see the sites. A high safety and security alert has been issued for the entire city.
