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POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008

Bomb threat evacuates Bellingham Planned Parenthood

Police destroy suspicious pack, but no bomb found yet

BELLINGHAM - A suspicious backpack that was part of a bomb scare at the Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood on Thursday, Nov. 13, did not contain any explosives.

The Bellingham Police Department's bomb squad blew up the backpack, which turned out to contain several Whatcom Transportation Authority bus schedules, and searched the rest of the facility with a bomb-sniffing dog but failed to find any explosives, Bellingham Police Lt. Steve Felmley said.

A man called Planned Parenthood, 1520 Ellis St., at about 10:15 a.m. to say there was a bomb in the building and that it was the will of God, Felmley said.

Employees immediately called police and evacuated the building, said Christina Wright, the director of external affairs for Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood.

The suspicious backpack was found near the east entrance of the building, Felmley said. About noon, a robot was sent in to blow up the pack.

Wright said the backpack may have belonged to a student who left it outside while visiting the clinic, but employees reported it to police because it looked out of place.

"The concerns of the safety and health of our patients and staff is always our No. 1 priority," Wright said. "We really applaud the swift actions of the authorities."

Police closed off several streets surrounding the building, but reopened them at about 12:30 p.m. after the pack had been detonated.

A small group of abortion opponents, part of the Olympia-based group Show the Truth in Washington, had been outside the clinic since about 9 a.m. as part of a scheduled protest.

They said they did not know about the bomb threat until police told them to move as the area was cordoned off. Felmley said police talked to the protesters and do not believe they had anything to do with it.

Bellingham Police are working to determine who called in the threat.