Bomb Threat At The Waltham Library: False Alarm, But Closed

WALTHAM, MA — The State Police bomb squad showed up at the Waltham Library complete with bomb sniffing dog after the library received an emailed threat, according to officials.

Out of "an abundance of caution," the director of the library said she decided to keep the library closed today.

"With the Mayor’s support, staff were sent home early, and we will remain closed for the rest of the day. We apologize for any inconvenience," said Kelly Linehan, the director of the library, in a post on Facebook.

Linehan said the report of the bomb came in before the library was scheduled to open for the day.

"This afternoon the State police bomb squad did respond, at the request of local authorities, to a bomb threat at the Waltham Public Library," Jennifer Mieth, of the State Fire Marshall's office, told Patch. But it was a false alarm. No explosives were found but the library chose to close for the day, according to a post on Twitter.

Waltham Police and Fire arrived and asked those inside the library to evacuate just before 9 a.m. Tuesday as they sent investigators in with at least one dog.

"The State Police bomb squad has done a lot of work - particularly with schools - on developing protocols in responding to bomb threats," said Mieth who added the training and techniques were similar to how they respond when a school is threatened, as was the case just last month.

Lt. Scott Perry of the Waltham Fire Department said Waltham firefighters are trained in a whole range of emergency scenarios, including bomb threats. Each case is different, but Waltham Fire and Police both respond to such reports and then assess the threat.

"In the fire industry we train ... for the worst and hope for the best," he said.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/ Waltham Patch