‘Incredibly ridiculous;’ Bomb threat causes evacuation at Kettering grocery store

KETTERING — A bomb threat forced Kroger shoppers to drop everything and get out on Tuesday.

As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, Kettering police officers surrounded the Kroger on E Stroop Road after receiving reports of a threat Tuesday afternoon.

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Jane Bidwell told News Center 7 that she was in the check-out line and saw multiple police officers rush inside.

“I jokingly told another woman next to me it’s like what could you possibly shoplift that you need five cops for? And we both laughed about it,” Bidwell said.

The laughter stopped when she heard a voice come over the intercom.

“To leave their items where they were and they wanted immediate evacuation,” Bidwell said.

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She wound up in the parking lot along with about 150 other people.

As people left the building, more officers went inside.

Kettering Police Sergeant Chris Sanford said someone called them and said there was a device somewhere inside Kroger.

“We have five different bomb-sniffing dogs in the area that are inside searching the store,” Sanford said.

Police say the dogs didn’t find anything and the threat was fake.

“I’m not surprised in this day and age. Lots of people do incredibly ridiculous things to gain attention,” Bidwell said.

Bidwell said the threat felt very real.

“I’m nervous about going down into a festival situation. You know, the Oregon District taught you long and hard, don’t take anything for granted,” Bidwell said. “You need to be on your toes like you got to be alert to your surroundings.”

After police cleared the store, Kroger let its shoppers back inside.

We will continue to follow this story.

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