Boston Police Arrest Man in Connection With Bomb Threat At Movie Theater

BOSTON, MA — A Beacon Hill man has been arrested in connection with an alleged bomb threat at a downtown Boston movie theater.

Christopher McFadden, 55, was arrested Tuesday after officers responded to a reported bomb threat at the AMC Theatre on Tremont Street, according to the Boston Police Department. McFadden was transported to Nashua Street Jail for booking and is expected to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on charges of bomb/hijack threat with serious public alarm, disturbing the peace, subsequent offense, and warrant, delay of service.

According to police, officers assigned to District A-1 responded to the theater at approximately 3:43 p.m. after dispatch received a report of a bomb threat. Police said an anonymous male caller claimed to be a federal agent and stated, through a purported secretary, that there was a bomb at the theater.

The threat followed an earlier incident inside the theater. Security told officers that at approximately 3:39 p.m., an employee requested assistance with a male patron who was allegedly making inappropriate comments toward a female employee. The man, believed to be under the influence of an unknown substance, was escorted out of the theater. Police said security reported that, while being removed, the man displayed two sharpened chopsticks and threatened a theater manager before leaving on foot on Tremont Street.

Officers canvassed the area of Boston Common and Washington Street and located a man matching the suspect description. Police said an officer reviewing surveillance footage identified the suspect leaving the theater and traveling through Downtown Crossing into a restaurant on Washington Street, where he was taken into custody.

During a pat frisk conducted because of the nature of the threat, officers found a cell phone. A callback to the number used to report the bomb threat matched the phone in McFadden’s possession. Police said an Explosion Detection Canine confirmed McFadden did not have explosives.

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