Wal-Mart staff ordered to search store after bomb threat

Canadian Press

ST-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, QUE. - Managers at a local Wal-Mart forced employees to search the store after it received a bomb threat, Radio-Canada reported Monday.

Some 40 nervous employees searched the store for an hour last Thursday, said Mailie Fournier, a former employee of the store. They were accompanied by six police officers.

Several employees, whose jobs don’t include security, found the experience traumatic, said Mr. Fournier.

The incident prompted Quebec workplace health and safety board to investigate.

Wal-Mart said it simply wanted to help police conduct the search.

According to police, the store didn’t violate any laws and only had an obligation to evacuate the store if a suspicious object was found.

Customers in the store about 60 kilometres east of Montreal were, nonetheless, asked to leave the premises.

Nothing suspicious was found.