Rumors of Bomb Threats at Orland Square Mall Unfounded: Police

Recent rumors of bomb threats or security risks at Orland Square Mall Friday are unfounded, Orland Park police told Patch.

The rumors are likely due to people’s fear of terrorist acts against the Orland Park area following last week’s attacks in Paris, police said.

In the days since the attack, a months-old article detailing an ISIS threat against an Orland Park man has been widely spreading on the Internet. In March, a group calling itself the “Islamic State Hacking Division” boasted that its hackers had breached Defense Department databases to cull information about 100 U.S. military members. The hackers group said the information was posted online to encourage Muslims in the United States to attack and kill members of the military; a local airman was among them. The FBI alerted Orland Park police, who confirmed the outreach but did not disclose any information about additional security measures. The FBI also learned that the pilot lived in a different state but was identified as an Orland Park resident.

Police Friday said people are at a heightened level of fear and awareness since the attacks, and that no threats have recently been posed against the area.

“The Orland Park Police Department is in constant contact with federal, state, county and other city law enforcement partners. The Police Department has a full-time officer assigned to the FBI,” according to a release. “The department also has officers assigned to monitor information from the Statewide Terrorism & Intelligence Center (STIC) along with other intelligence sources. There is no information indicating Orland Park is the target of any type of terrorist threat.”

There will be an increased police presence at Orland Square as well as other locations. This is done routinely every year, police said.

“Even though there are no reports of any type of threats, the Orland Park Police Department will be vigilant and remember if you see something, say something NOW,” according to the alert.

The uneasiness reaches across the Chicago area. On Wednesday, an airline passenger told police he was afraid to fly out of Midway Airport because he heard two fellow travelers speaking Arabic to each other. He then persuaded a gate agent to remove the men from the Philadelphia-bound flight. The men were not charged and were allowed onto the flight after being questioned by police.

Early Thursday, Chicago police were summoned to State Street after reports of four bearded men in red scarves who leapt out of a white van and shouted at passersby and motorists “we are ISIS and we will kill you,” then sped off. The incident likely was a hoax, police said.

Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy has said there is no “credible threat or nexus to Chicago.”