Police to question suspect in Grand Forks Credit Union bomb scare
By Erin Perkins
Grand Forks RCMP will be questioning a suspect they think may have been involved in the bomb scare at the Grand Forks Credit Union last week.
Grand Forks RCMP evacuated 37 staff from the credit union and everyone within a 300-foot circumference of the bank all day on Wednesday, Oct. 3 after a suspicious briefcase was found abandoned at the front doors at 9:20 a.m.
A dog bomb detection unit from Kelowna arrived much later that day, having been involved in a search for a missing hunter in Vernon that same day, said Grand Forks RCMP staff sergeant Jim Harrison.
After the dog determined there was a 99 per cent chance the briefcase contained no bomb, Harrison set about to remotely open the case. With the help of Duct tape and a 75 meter metal pole, Harrison used a police car for cover and opened the briefcase on site.
“We found it to be empty,” said Harrison, adding there was absolutely nothing inside, not even a pen. “It’s hard to say if it was a hoax.”
The suspect, a Grand Forks man, is known to police, said Harrison. Once the police have located and questioned him they will be able to determine the intent of having left the empty briefcase on the bank’s doorstep.
Depending on the outcome of the interview, the suspect could be facing charges of mischief.
