Walmart Bomb Threat Leads to Charges for Houston Woman

HOUSTON, Texas – A woman reported to be a “regular loyal shopper” at a Houston-area Walmart store is now in the Harris County jail after making a bomb threat.

A security guard at the Walmart store located at Eldridge Parkway and FM 1960 in northwest Harris County told Breitbart Texas the woman who is a “regular loyal shopper” at the store told a clerk that a friend of hers had placed an explosive device inside the store.

The incident began shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Customers and store employees were evacuated from the store as a precaution and deputies from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office were called to the scene.

Breitbart Texas witnessed the arrival of an explosives detection K-9 team. The deputy and the K-9 conducted a search around the outside of the building before eventually entering the store. The interior search of the store lasted about an hour.

As many as eight-ten deputies arrived at the store and waited for the all-clear that eventually came.

Store employees were allowed to re-enter the store at about 7 p.m. The store re-opened for business later that evening.

Breitbart Texas spoke with two customers who were in the store when the evacuation ordered was made. One man said he had his cart full of groceries and had to leave them behind. He said a manager told him a bomb threat had been made and he needed to leave right away. The second man was still shopping when he learned he had to leave. He said the employee who notified him seemed very concerned about the threat.

The security guard who spoke with Breitbart Texas said she did not know exactly who the woman was who made the threat as she had just started her shift. She did say it was a regular customer who the store knew well. She did not say if there had been any earlier problems with the woman.

The woman was led from the store in handcuffs by Harris County sheriff’s deputies. Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ryan Sullivan confirmed to Breitbart Texas that the woman has been charged “after entering the store and making statements which caused alarm.” He said the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has accepted the charges against the woman whose identity has not yet been released.

Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman told Breitbart Texas this was the second bomb threat of a store located along FM 1960 in about a week. He said a threat was made last week against a local Stein Mart store located about seven miles away from the Walmart store.

Bob Price serves as senior political news contributor and is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.