Bomb threat evacuates National Guard Armory

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Police continue to look for a man who made a bomb threat Tuesday morning directed at the National Guard Armory in Tallahassee.

A call was made at 10:15 a.m. to the Tallahassee Police Department by a person who was approached by someone in the parking lot of a Dollar General near the armory, saying a bomb was in the building.

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The Armory was quickly evacuated and nearby businesses were told to keep people inside while the threat was being investigated.

TPD, along with the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Leon County Sheriff's Office responded to the armory, and as of early afternoon no bomb had been found.



Officer David Northway said law enforcement will continue looking for the suspect.

"We had the sheriff's helicopter up, and we immediately began tracking and looking for the suspect who was supposed to be still in the area. We did a lengthy track, trying to locate him, but we were unable to find him at that time," Northway said.

Falsely reporting a bomb threat is a felony.

Tallahassee police describe the man who claimed there was a bomb at the armory as a roughly 40-year-old black male, about 6 feet 2 inches tall, with a slim build and grey hair.

He also may have been carrying a handgun, according to police.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call TPD at 850-891-4200.

This past Saturday, following a shooting rampage in Tennessee that killed four Marines and one sailor, Governor Rick Scott issued an executive order to temporarily move National Guard members from six storefront recruitment centers to armories.



He also ordered the Guard's Adjutant Gen. Michael Calhoun to work with local law-enforcement agencies to arrange regular security checks of armories and said the state will expedite processing of new concealed-weapons licenses for members of the National Guard.

Scott is expected to visit with guardsmen at the Florida Air National Guard base at Jacksonville International Airport on Wednesday morning.