A phoned-in bomb threat sent Statesville police rushing to the city's Recreation Center on Simonton Road late Friday afternoon, forcing an evacuation before a K-9 sweep came up empty and the building reopened to the public hours later. Officers responded to the threat at approximately 3:41 p.m. on Friday, October 16.
According to the Statesville Police Department, the threat was called in to the Statesville Recreation Center at 1875 Simonton Road, prompting law enforcement to evacuate the building as a precaution while officers searched the property. The facility, run by the city's Recreation & Economic Vitality department, includes a fitness center, an indoor climbing wall, a two-court gymnasium, and seasonal access to an outdoor leisure pool, according to the City of Statesville.
Investigators brought in reinforcements to make sure the search was thorough. An Iredell County Sheriff's Office explosive ordnance detection K-9 unit assisted officers with the sweep of the recreation center, the police department said. The sheriff's office maintains specialized canine teams trained for explosive detection and high-risk building sweeps to support municipal agencies across the county during emergencies, per the Iredell County Sheriff's Office.
No Device Found, Building Reopened
Investigators found no evidence of an explosive device inside the building, and the facility was cleared for the public to reenter Friday. The police department publicly thanked the sheriff's office for its assistance during the incident, though the scare still forced a temporary shutdown of a heavily used public facility during the Friday afternoon rush.
The department's Criminal Investigations Division is now working to determine the source of the threat, with the case remaining under investigation as of Saturday. That division operates under the supervision of Captain Christy Cleary and Police Chief David W. Onley, according to the department's staff directory maintained by the City of Statesville.
A Pattern of Hoax Threats Across Iredell County
Friday's scare was not an isolated event. Just eight days earlier, North Iredell High School was placed on lockdown on October 8 after a phoned-in bomb threat, which law enforcement cleared after finding no credible hazard, as Hoodline previously reported. And back in February, Statesville High School was evacuated following an early-morning bomb threat before police searched the campus and confirmed there were no explosive devices present.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned that hoax threats like these carry real costs beyond the initial scare, diverting emergency responders and law enforcement resources away from genuine public safety calls, according to FBI public safety alerts. Each false alarm pulls officers, deputies, and K-9 teams away from other duties across the county, even when, as in Friday's case, the threat turns out to be unfounded.
Potential Felony and Federal Charges Loom
Whoever is ultimately identified as responsible for the call faces serious legal exposure under state law. Making a false report concerning a destructive device in a public building is classified as a Class H felony under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-69.1, carrying a potential sentence of up to 39 months in prison under the state's structured sentencing guidelines, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. The same statute also grants courts the authority to order a convicted suspect to pay full financial restitution for response costs and consequential damages stemming from the operational disruption.
Federal law could come into play as well if authorities trace the call beyond state lines or determine federal involvement is warranted. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1038, conveying false or misleading information about a bomb threat is a federal offense carrying penalties of up to five years in federal prison, in addition to civil liability for response costs, according to the Legal Information Institute. For now, the Criminal Investigations Division continues working to trace the call and identify who made it, with the case remaining open as of Saturday.
