Bomb threat a nasty hoaxA handwritten bomb threat left in the men’s bathroom of a popular Windhoek gym on Monday led to the evacuation of about 200 members until a security sweep found the premises safe later that night.
The police yesterday warned that bomb threats are taken very seriously and will be investigated. Nobody had been arrested in connection with the threat by yesterday afternoon.
The note, written on a sheaf of toilet paper, was found by a gym employee on Monday afternoon, the police said yesterday.
The note read: “I planted a bom in this gym. 5 Sept 2016. C you on the other side lossor [sic].”
While experts say lifting fingerprints from tissue paper is close to impossible, handwriting analysis is being done in an effort to identify the culprit.
A police spokesperson, Inspector Slogan Matheus, said the note was discovered shortly after 16:00 on Monday and was immediately handed to management.
He said the gym’s management sprang into action and promptly evacuated the facility. Police and emergency personnel were notified shortly afterwards, including the fire brigade, private emergency services and the police’s explosives unit.
Four explosives sniffer dogs were dispatched to help search the gym.
During the search, a licensed firearm and a passport were discovered in the bag of an unnamed gym member.
“He was interviewed by the police, and we could not establish any link between the patron and the note. The firearm was handed back to him and police investigations into the matter continue,” Matheus told the media yesterday.
The police dismissed rumours that drugs were found in another member’s bag during the search.
Several gym members were stranded outside the gym for at least three hours while the security sweep was under way, unable to get hold of their car or house keys and phones kept in their gym bags.
Matheus said NamPol was “not pleased with the behaviour of some of the gym patrons”, who ignored warnings to step away from the premises during the search.
“People should not stand or stray around the bomb area, and should move away as far away as possible to avoid any injury to themselves or damage to their property in the event of an explosion,” he said.
JANA-MARI SMITH