Bomb Threats Made To Two Iowa Walmart Stores

A scary situation for two central Iowa Walmart locations.

According to We Are Iowa, stores in Altoona and Windsor Heights received bomb threats on Wednesday morning, causing both stores to be evacuated.

Both town's police departments received identical phone calls earlier that day. The threats were credible enough to warrant the stores to temporarily shut down as a precaution.

“WalMart management did exactly what they should have done during this morning’s incident. The safety of our community is paramount and we take any incidents such as this morning’s incident very seriously,” Windsor Heights Public Safety Director & Chief of Police and Fire Service Chad McCluskey said in a statement. “In addition, emergency responders in the Des Moines metro area enjoy close relationships with each other, which leads to timely communication during similar incidents in the area.”

Police said Wednesday afternoon that they've found no evidence that the threats were serious. Both stores were cleared shortly after and shoppers were allowed back inside.

Making false bomb threats can result in serious penalties, including felony charges.