EATON — L&M Products, located at 201 E. Lexington Rd. in Eaton, was evacuated after someone called in a bomb threat during the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 11.
The Preble County Sheriff’s Office received a call around 1 p.m. stating someone had planted a bomb inside the building. The caller also said that the bomb was going to detonate in one hour.
Eaton Police, Fire and EMS responded to the scene and the Eaton PD evacuated the building while the Eaton Fire Division and Street Division set up a perimeter and barricaded around the area for safety, according to Eaton Police Chief Chad DePew.
The Eaton authorities also received assistance from PCSO deputies. Two bomb sniffing dogs from the Dayton Airport Police Department responded to the scene as well, successfully searching the area.
According to reports, at approximately 2:40 p.m., they were able to declare the area safe and allow employees to return to work.
“We are happy it turned out the way it did. Any time there is a report like that, we are glad it is a false alarm. Everybody worked well together,” said DePew.
Law enforcement has been unable to find the responsible party for the situation, as the number used is unregistered. The person making the phone call also used a form of technology that has made the call difficult to trace.
“We are going to continue to work on finding the person responsible for it,” said DePew. “We’re not going to give up on it. We are trying to find out who this person is, why they did it, and hold them accountable for it.”
DePew also said the bomb threat was the first he can recall for the City of Eaton. He has been with the department since 2002.
