Walmart evacuated after bomb threat

Around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Walmart west of Havre was evacuated after the store received a bomb threat.

The store reopened at 10:30 p.m. after no bomb was found.

Walmart employees called the Hill County Sheriff's Office at 1:44 p.m. to report they had received the threat.

After deputies spoke with Walmart management, they determined the threat was credible, a press release from the sheriff's office said.

The store was then evacuated. Employees were asked to gather on the other side of the main parking lot.

The sheriff's office requested help from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and explosives ordnance and security teams arrived with an explosives detection canine.

Customers were advised to leave the area and blockades were put up at the entrances.

Some of the evacuated customers remained outside the store immediately after the evacuation of the building.

Nothing was found during the search.

"Both teams conducted an extremely thorough and methodical search of the store, parking lot and areas within the immediate vicinity of the store but did not locate any device," the press release says. " ... The incident remains under investigation."

The Montana Highway Patrol and Havre Police Department assisted with the incident.

"(Hill County Sheriff Don) Brostrom stated that while no device was located, he felt it was paramount to err on the side of caution to endure the safety of everyone involved," the press release says.

Walmart management and Sheriff Brostrom declined to elaborate this morning.