Who wanted to blow up two Publix stores? Florida police are looking into threats
A bomb threat investigation is underway at two Publix stores in Bonita Springs Wednesday afternoon, just weeks after one of the stores had a similar scare.
Lee County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Fine said the two 911 calls about the bomb threats came in shortly after 11:45 a.m., one after the other.
One of the threats was for the Publix at Bonita Grande Crossing, 2900 Trade Way Four, and the other was at the Publix at the Center of Bonita Springs, 3304 Bonita Beach Rd. Both of the stores are in Bonita Springs, a city in Southwest Florida just north of Naples and south of Fort Myers.
Both of the stores were evacuated and bomb-sniffing K9s were sent to check the stores for possible explosives, according to the sheriff’s office. The Publix at Bonita Grande Crossing was declared safe around 2 p.m. and has since reopened.
One of the Publix stores, the one on Bonita Beach Road, was also evacuated on Feb. 21 after receiving a similar threat, which was later determined to be unfounded. The sheriff’s office says it is investigating all three threats, and that it can’t confirm if any are related to each other. No arrests have been made.
The sheriff’s office says making hoax bomb threats is a second-degree felony.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 2:12 PM.
