Bomb threat closes courthouses, downtown streets
Hampton General District Court, Juvenile and Domestic courts targeted in two threats
HAMPTON — Bomb threats led to the closures of three Hampton courthouses Tuesday, and several downtown streets were closed to traffic for more than five hours.
The first threat came in at about at 8:25 a.m. of a threat to blow up the Hampton General District Court building on North King Street. Then a second call came in, threatening to bomb the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court next door.
“An unknown suspect contacted the courts and indicated that he was going to blow the buildings up,” said Hampton Police spokesman Sgt. Reggie Williams.
Those two courthouses — as well as the Hampton Circuit Court across the street — were evacuated as the Hampton Police, Hampton Fire and Rescue and Hampton Sheriff ’s Office arrived at the scene.
A sweep of two the courthouses — including with two bomb-sniffing K-9 dogs from the Hampton Police — didn’t find anything suspicious.
The blocked off roadways in the area — a block that ran from King Street to Pembroke Avenue, then to Eaton and Lincoln streets — didn’t reopen until about 1:30 p.m. “We just wanted to be thorough in the sweep, to verify that there was no threat,” Williams said.
The courthouses never reopened. About 10 attorneys who had come to General District Court for an 8:30 a.m. civil docket were told to wait behind a nearby Greyhound bus terminal, with several lawyers waiting there for about five hours.
A stream of people came to the various courthouse doors only to find them locked.
That included a Hampton couple, Ashley Rhodes, 21, and Michael Trikones, 30, who came to the Circuit Court at 2 p.m. to get
their marriage license.
Their wedding is in 10 days, and they had set up the appointment two weeks ago. “I would expect at least they’d call,” said Rhodes, with the couple’s s 8-month-old daughter in her arms, when they realized the building was closed.
“You think they’d call people that had appointments today to let
us know,” she said. “With COVID, they’re only open a certain amount of time, so it’s gonna kind of suck if we can’t get our marriage license before our wedding.”
Jasmine Finnell, 27, facing a domestic assault charge at the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, said she was trying to reach her lawyer to ask what to do. “I just think they should drop the cases — drop them all,” she quipped.
There was some initial confusion among deputies about whether the courts would reopen, but a deputy later said the court was closed for the day “per Judge Gaten,” referring to Circuit Court Judge Michael Gaten. Sheriff ’s Major Steven Rich said a deputy was being stationed at the door to tell people it was closed.
Though Hampton City Hall was in the restricted area, it remained open.
Anyone with information about the threats is asked to call the Hampton Police Division at 757–727–6111 or the Crime Line at 1–888-LOCK-U-UP. People also can send anonymous tips at P3Tips.com. Crime Line callers don’t have to appear in court and could be eligible for a cash reward up to $1,000.