Man Makes Bomb Threat To Avoid Court Date: Allegheny Co. Sheriff

PITTSBURGH, PA — A man who called a bomb threat into the Allegheny County Courthouse did so because he did not want to attend his court hearing, Sheriff Kevin Kraus said.

On Monday at 8:47 a.m., the county 911 got a call from someone saying a bomb would explode at the courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh that morning. More than 250 people evacuated the building while law enforcement from several agencies searched for explosives.

Detectives said the call was made from West Park in the city's north side, and was "made from a cellular telephone that can only activate a 911 call in case of emergency."

The sheriff's office identified 25-year-old Brandon Hipps, who has no fixed address, as the "priority suspect" later that day.

Hipps was supposed to be in court on a bench warrant that day. He had been convicted of assault and did not appear for a probation hearing, according to Kraus.

Detectives located Hipps the next day around Market Square and arrested him on the warrants. They found two cell phones in his possession. They took him in for questioning and he told police he made the call, Kraus said.

"Hipps stated that he called in the bomb threat at the Courthouse because he didn’t want to go to court that day," Kraus said in a news release. "Hipps provided the location where he made the call, which matched the call information. We played the audio recording of the 911 call and he stated that was his voice. We strongly believe one of the two cell phones recovered at the time of his arrest was the one used to place the threat. "

Kraus's office charged Hipps with terroristic threats (a felony), three counts of false alarms to agencies of public safety, obstructing administration of law or other governmental functions, recklessly endangering another person, and penalty communications with 911 systems.