Chicago Police and F-16s Respond to Bomb Threats Against Airliners Saturday

Bomb threats posted on Twitter Saturday against two commercial jets prompted NORAD to scramble F-16 fighters and Chicago Police to respond to a Northwest Side residence.

Posted to Twitter by @kingZortic, authorities were given an address in the 4500 block of West Schubert Avenue and challenged to “come get me I got guns, COME AT ME.”

After getting to the home, Chicago Police determined the individual who made the threats did not live at that address, according to Police News Affairs. The challenge to police was posted at 3:51 p.m., reports the Chicago Tribune.

Southwest Airlines Flight 2492 from Milwaukee to Atlanta and Delta Air Lines Flight 1156 from Portland, Ore., to Atlanta were searched by police bomb squads after landing this afternoon. F-16 fighter jets scrambled out of South Carolina by NORAD met the planes in the air and escorted them to Atlanta, according to the FBI.

Reese McCranie, a spokesman for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, told reporters that both planes landed safely and no explosives were found during a thorough search. McCranie said the threats were deemed “credible.” The passengers were also rescreened. All passengers were off the planes by 5 p.m. Eastern time.

As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the threats on Twitter stated:

• “I have a bomb on one of your planes, but I forgot which one when I left the airport. Can you help me find it?
• “It was from Portland to Atlanta, I forgot the flight number, though. It was something like DL156 or DL 1556 I forgot the order.”
• “It was smuggled through one of the back entrances because the airport didn’t have much security around one of the entrances so the bomb is at the back of the plane. Everyone will know when it’s detonated.”
• “A bomb was placed on SWA2492. It will be detonated at a random time of my choosing.”
• “If anything happens to me I’ll make sure that more flights are targeted. I strongly suggest you don’t try anything stupid.”

Britt Johnson, Special Agent In Charge of the Atlanta FBI Field Office, told ajc.com the FBI will “absolutely be doing everything we can to identify who made the initial threats and track them down.”

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