"In response to the (bomb) threat, we contacted our local law enforcement authorities, and evacuated the building,” said operations manager Dick Riel. “We take the safety of our employees very seriously. We worked with law enforcement to inspect the building (and) will continue to work with law enforcement to apprehend the subjects re-sponsible.”
Officers from the Culver Police Department were dispatched to the scene around 6:40 a.m. Tuesday, with officers from Kosciusko and Allen County called in short order, a Kosciusko officer making an initial sweep of the building and Allen County bomb-sniffing dogs arriving about 40 minutes later.
“Our main concern is everybody getting out of the building,” explained Bean. “We’ve seen this kind of thing happen with schools before. When you’ve got a big building like that, it’s like a school. (Medallion is) a little more open compared to a school, which is the nice thing. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Bean noted that the department has a name they’re looking into, “but nothing 100 percent as to whether that person’s involved or not. We think it’s possibly a disgruntled employee or somebody that’s worked there.”
Bean adds that employees were sent home or to early lunch until about 11 a.m., after the plant had been thoroughly searched; then workers returned and the workday proceeded as usual.
Jeff Kenney is the editor of the Culver Citizen, a sister publication of the Pilot News and John K. Reed is a Pilot News correspondent.