Police across the Bay Area were investigating bomb threats, including one at the San Francisco Fire Credit Union, as part of dozens of bomb threats reported at government buildings, banks, libraries, schools and other businesses across the United States.
Employees at San Francisco Fire Credit Union at Presidio and California Streets were evacuated and employees at other branches received an email about a bomb treat, Mario Campos, told NBC Bay Area. His wife works at another branch of SFFCU.
In some of the emails, the sender claimed to have had an associate plant a small bomb in the recipient's building and that the only way to stop him from setting it off was by making an online payment of $20,000 in Bitcoin.
The Jewish Community Center confirmed in a tweet that the threat was not directed at the organization which is located across the street from the credit union.
San Francisco Police Department said at a press conference later in the after that it received close to 20 calls about people receiving email bomb threats but no devices were found.
San Jose, Oakland, Santa Rosa, Petaluma Police said they have also received reports of bomb threats similar to the ones reported in San Francisco and across the country, according to cities' police departments.
If you receive a threatening email, do not click the link, Petaluma police warned.
Palo Alto police said they received five calls from businesses who reported that they received the email about bitcoin payment. Mountain View police said they investigated four bomb threats.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said that they found "no credible evidence" related to the email threat.
Law enforcement agencies across the country dismissed the threats, which they said were meant to cause disruption.
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In San Diego, police worked on a number of threats called in from San Marcos, Vista and Lakeside, all small communities north and east of downtown San Diego. All appear to be private businesses, deputies said.
The FBI said in a statement that they are aware of the recent threats across the country, and encouraged the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities.
