Three Richmond polling places received phoned-in threats within a span of about two hours on Election Day, prompting police security sweeps at each location even as voting carried on uninterrupted. Officers checked Thomas Jefferson High School, Barack Obama Elementary School and Albert Hill Middle School after shooting and bomb threats were called in Tuesday afternoon, but found nothing to back them up.
Three Threats, Three Schools, One Afternoon
The first shooting threat came in by phone at Thomas Jefferson High School at 12:42 p.m., according to WRIC. A second shooting threat followed about an hour later at Barack Obama Elementary School, reported at 1:43 p.m. Then, at roughly 2:54 p.m., a bomb threat was called in at Albert Hill Middle School, which serves as the polling place for Precinct 113, as first reported by WJLA.
Richmond Police responded to all three locations to assess the threats, run security checks and protect voters and poll workers, the station's report notes. After sweeping the buildings, officers found no suspicious activity or evidence of an immediate threat at any of the sites. The city's police department ultimately deemed all three threats not credible, according to Virginia Dogwood.
Polls Stayed Open Through the Scare
Voting continued at all three schools throughout the afternoon as police coordinated with election officials to monitor the situation, per the same WRIC account. Polls across Virginia were scheduled to remain open until 7 p.m., and election officials reiterated the standard rule that anyone already in line at closing time would still be allowed to cast a ballot, per Virginia Dogwood.
Turnout in Richmond was already brisk before the threats surfaced. More than 13,500 Richmonders had cast ballots within the first three hours of voting Tuesday, according to the Richmond Office of Elections as reported by WTVR. Election officials directed voters to the city elections website for updates on the situation at the three schools.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Election Day Threats
The Richmond incidents arrived against a backdrop of federal warnings about threats aimed at election infrastructure. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center had advised anyone aware of threats to election workers or polling locations to contact a local FBI field office or submit an electronic tip, according to the bureau.
Richmond was not alone in dealing with Election Day disruptions. In Gibraltar, Michigan, a bomb threat at the Carlson High School polling place led voters in two precincts to be temporarily redirected to vote outside the building, as reported by The Detroit News. No such redirection was reported at the Richmond schools, where officials said voting simply continued as police worked in the background.
