Local police have evacuated and blocked off Castlegar Safeway in response to a report of 'suspicious activity.'
The police nor evacuated employees could confirm what the issue was, but the resident who called the event in to the News claimed it may be a bomb threat. However, this is not confirmed.
The local grocery store was blocked off close to 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 18.
Update:
Cpl. Deb Postnikoff has confirmed that the issue was related to a bomb threat but, fortunately it was only a hoax.
"We responded very quickly and we evacuated the entire plaza," Postnikoff said, "We conducted a search of the business and it's now deemed fit for customers to come in and go shopping again."
Cpl. Postnikoff said she could not elaborate on the nature of the threat but similar situations are occuring in Cranbrook and Creston at this time. Whether these events are associated with one another has yet to be determined.
She continued to say that these types of situations do take up a lot of their resources and time and although many shoppers were displeased with the police intervention, precautions do have to be taken to assure it is just a hoax.
"I know it was a huge inconvenience for a lot of the shoppers and what not — which we apologize for — but we want to make sure everybody is safe."