Salem Evacuation As Bomb Threat Investigated At Satanic Temple

SALEM, MA — The area of Bridge Street near the Satanic Temple was shut down Tuesday morning after Salem police received a bomb threat targeting the Temple.

Police said Bridge Street was closed at Beacon Street and Osgood Street as of about 10:30 a.m. while they clear the area and investigate the threat. The Massachusetts State Police bomb squad was called in to assist with the search.

Police said shortly after 11 a.m. that the "Satanic Temple and surrounding areas have been searched and cleared from the earlier bomb threat."

Salem police called the threat "a malicious hoax."

"There is no longer any danger in the area and Bridge Street is open to all traffic," police said.

This was the second large-scale emergency response in the city in two days after police said there was a report of a "suspicious item" at 79 Congress Street on Sunday. The Salem Fire Department and a state HazMat team were also called to that scene "based on the information available."

Police said, upon investigation, they determined the material to "not be a hazard, and not to be illegal."

It also comes on the heels of "swatting" false active shooter reports at several Massachusetts schools — including Salem High School — last week. All of those reports also turned out to be hoaxes, but a large-scale police response and lockdown were ordered as a matter of protocol.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)