Wal-Mart Stays Open During Bomb Scare

Melanie Brandert

Last Saturday afternoon Eva Voorhees heard the clatter of feet on the roof of the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Mitchell where she works in the photo department — but it wasn’t the pitter-patter of reindeer.

It was the police looking for a bomb. Up front, police officers, the SWAT Team and others were busy searching the store while customers were browsing for gift. They looked in jewelry counters, wrapping paper, freezers, the back room where trucks unload and closets at Tire Lube Express.

During the nearly two-hour search Wal-Mart officials opted not to evacuated the busy discount store even though police recomended they do so. Wal-Mart officials said the call was a hoax and not a threat.

The incident has family members of Wal-Mart employees criticizing store officials for failing to take police’s recommendation to evacuate.

Voorhees has worked at the Mitchell discount chain since Wal-Mart Supercenter opened in 2001. Her daughter, Charlotte Goode, 36, said Voorhees called her Sunday, crying and upset as she relayed the story.

“It’s right before Christmas. They were swamped with people,” she said. “To me, they endangerd the community, customers and associates. They put making a buck ahead of public safety.”

Read more in Thursday’s Argus Leader.