Hinsdale’s Whole Foods store was the target of a phoned-in bomb threat Tuesday, according to village police, with indications that the call originated outside the country. The threat was determined to be unfounded.
Police Chief Brian King reported that a call came in to the 500 E. Ogden Ave. store at 11:56 a.m. Tuesday.
“The caller, who spoke with an accent, purported to be from India, threatened to blow up the store. The initial indications are that the call originated outside the United States,” King told The Hinsdalean via email.
He reported that responding officers conducted a walk-through and did not find anything suspicious.
“The store was evacuated and a bomb sniffing dog from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Bomb Squad conducted a search with similar results — finding no suspicious items,” King stated.
The store was reopened for normal business at 1:20 p.m.
King cited similar incidents around the country.
“We are aware that there were several bomb threats to Whole Foods last year in the U.S., with one occurring locally in Evanston last year,” he commented, stopping short of linking this with other cases. “The police department has not made a connection between those incidents and the incident that occurred on Tuesday in Hinsdale.”
The department is continuing its investigation.
“We are appreciative of the quick response by the Cook County Sheriff’s police and the assistance that they provided. Our goal is to ensure the environment is safe and minimizing the disruption to the business,” he stated. “We will pursue all investigative avenues available to us in an attempt to identify the source of the threat.”
