A bomb threat turned a routine Saturday evening shopping trip into a rapid evacuation at the Walmart Supercenter on West Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, as police swarmed the big-box store and its parking lot. Officers eventually cleared the scene, and the store reopened roughly three hours after the initial call.
Police response and search
According to WSVN, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department received a call about a bomb threat in the 2500 block of West Broward Boulevard and dispatched armed officers along with its Bomb Squad to the Walmart. The department's specialty units handle suspected explosive devices, per the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and officers in tactical gear worked alongside bomb technicians as they searched the property.
Witnesses and the scene
“It was like so many police cars outside,” one witness told WSVN, describing a chaotic scene as people were directed out of the store and a police drone hovered overhead. WSVN reported that the store reopened about three hours after the evacuation began and that officers spent an extended period processing the scene before giving the all clear.
Not the first emergency at this location
This Supercenter at 2500 W Broward Blvd. has dealt with trouble before. Local outlets previously reported that juveniles set off fireworks inside the same store in June 2024, igniting clothing that staff were able to extinguish. The spot is a large Walmart Supercenter with pharmacy and auto services, per the store listing on Walmart, which helps explain the rapid and highly visible law-enforcement response to any suspected threat there.
Legal and safety note
Florida law treats false bomb reports as serious criminal conduct. Section 790.163 of the Florida Statutes makes it unlawful to knowingly make a false report about a planted bomb and classifies the offense as a felony, with potential restitution for emergency-response costs. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact police directly rather than sharing unverified claims online, since false reports can carry severe penalties under state law.
What to know now
Fort Lauderdale police had not released details about any suspect as of Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Anyone with information is asked to contact the department's non-emergency line at (954) 764-4357 or the Fort Lauderdale Police Department's public information office. We will update this story if authorities release more information.
