TMCNet: Bomb threat to Carmike Theaters included Havelock's Cinema 6

[August 22, 2012]

Bomb threat to Carmike Theaters included Havelock's Cinema 6

Aug 17, 2012 (Havelock News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Havelock was caught up in a bomb threat that affected movie theaters across the country on Friday.

The Cinema 6 was evacuated along with two nearby businesses when a bomb threat was made to Carmike Theaters' which owns 260 movie houses.

Havelock Police called in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team from Cherry Point just after 10:30 a.m. when the Carmike's corporate offices issued an alert to its array of theaters.

The EOD team sent in bomb detecting dogs, a robot and flak jacketed explosives technicians but nothing was ultimately found.

Havelock Police had closed down a half-mile portion of McCotter Boulevard from East Main Street to Brown Boulevard to traffic. Employees of the theater, and adjacent Marine Federal Credit Union and Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative were evacuated.


Ultimately the all clear was given at about 2:45 p.m.

Four matinee showings at the theater were cancelled as a result of the threat.

"Basically what happened is we got a call that there was a possible bomb inside the Cinema 6. Officers responded and basically evacuated the area and talked to the manager, who said he had received a call from corporate management saying that they received a call that there was a bomb placed in one of their stores and they have over 200 stores across the country. So just for precautionary measures we set up a perimeter and we called the dogs in from Cherry Point. The dogs went in and had a hit and right now EOD is going in and investigating the area where the dogs had a hit," said Havelock Police Lt. Brian Borton. "When we got on scene we did a quick analysis of the situation and saw how much traffic was going through here and decided we'd block the road off and we talked to the people at the electric company and the bank and they all agreed to leave the area just as a precautionary measure," Borton said.

"You have to take every one of them seriously. You don't know. There are people out there that are willing to hurt people and you have to just make sure that everything is safe for the public," Borton said.

Amy Thorn, of Cherry Point, was one of those who had planned to see a movie and was turned away, "We were about to come to a movie and we saw everything blocked off and now we see the bomb robot," said Thorn, of Cherry Point, who was preparing to go see The Campaign with her Marine husband. "We were like why is this all blocked off and then we saw the bomb disposal." "It's frightening. That scares us," Corbin said as she and friend Stella Speelman sat in their car in the Food Lion parking lot and watched the event unfold.

"We started to come to the movies and everything's all blocked off and we said what is going on. We were going to see the Good Life of Timothy Green at 12:30," said Charlotte Corbin, of New Bern. "Shock in Havelock to have a bomb disposal unit at the theater. It's shocking, yes." The women said it brought back memories of what happened recently in Colorado when a crazed man brought guns into a theater and went on a shooting spree killing 13 people and injuring 58 others.

"Just knowing that that could happen again is scary, " said Speelman, of New Bern. "It's really scary that our world is changing. You don't think about crime or anything in Havelock. We thought it was construction. To hear that it was nation wide is really scary." Speelman praised the police and military that responded.

"We're so thankful to have them there because you know what, if there's a threat out there, whether it's real or not they are there. They take it very seriously," Speelman said.

Nine Havelock Police officers were on the scene along with personnel from Havelock Fire and Rescue Department.

"They say there's a bomb threat, so the least we could do is given them a couple of pies while they are waiting," said Nikki Bartell, who brought two extra large pepperoni sausage and cheese pizzas from Big Apple Pizza in Havelock. "You go to take care of them while they are sitting out here waiting in this heat. It's the least we can do." She said the incident didn't affect her business except for the fact that the delivery drivers could not get in through the blocked parking lot entrances along McCotter Boulevard. "It's not a big deal. When it comes to all of this, the parking lot is theirs," Bartell said referring to the police, fire and EMS crews amassed behind the shopping center. "No trouble at all. I hope everything turns out good," Bartell said during the episode..

"It was kind of a shocker," said Doug Marvel, of Newport, who had pulled into the parking lot in front of Food Lion to eat lunch with his construction crew. "We were pulling out of the Sonic and we saw the bomb squad pulling by with the lights and we had already seen the road was blocked off and they were unloading the robot and guys were walking around with flack jackets in and out of the theater." "I didn't think anything would happen here in Craven County," Marvel said. "That's a pretty sick person to make this many person go out of there way. And for it to be a serious threat, that's a seriously disturbed person." William Strayhorn, of Newport, was on his way to Marine Federal Credit Union to conduct some business. "You only got one in this area so I got to wait till this passes over.

"Whoever is doing it is sick. They need help. They got some real serious problems mentally," Strayhorn said.

"Your whole daily routine is being affected. You got to do other things. You got to alter your plans. If you want to go to the movie, you got to go somewhere else. You're scared to go anywhere now because of a threat. It could be here, New Bern, Jacksonville, Kinston, anywhere. All over the state, it's just for someone calling in a threat and threatening to do something stupid." No one was hurt in the incident in Havelock, just inconvenienced.

"We have to err on the side of caution and public safety" said Havelock Police Capt. David Bratton. "I believe some others in some other towns around the country have gone through the same thing that we have gone through." "That's just the society and the world we live in today," Borton said. "We've just got to take everything as serious and handle it like that and hopefully nothing comes of it and if it does then we're prepared for it and will handle it." ___ (c)2012 the Havelock News (Havelock, N.C.) Visit the Havelock News (Havelock, N.C.) at www.havenews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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