Columbus Jewish center receives bomb threat

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus received a bomb threat Wednesday morning, making it one of at least 28 centers in 17 states to receive similar threats.

Columbus police were called at 10:53 a.m. to the East Side center off College Avenue after the threat was received through a phone call. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also was contacted.

Authorities searched the building and issued an all clear around 11:30 a.m., said Mike Levison, the center’s marketing director. Center officials decided that no evacuation was necessary, executive director Carol Folkerth said in a statement.

“Many JCCs around the country received similar threats today and all were deemed not credible,” Folkerth said.

Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said that unless there is a potential explosive device found, police don’t require that a building be evacuated. That decision is left up to building officials. If there was a potential bomb, he said, then an evacuation would have been ordered.

In this case, JCC didn’t feel it was necessary and the city fire department’s bomb squad was not called out.

It was the second time this month that multiple Jewish community centers received bomb threats. Last week, 16 centers in nine states received fake bomb threats, which resulted in evacuations.

The experience of last week prompted the association to have all centers review their security protocols.

“Lessons learned and best practices discussed were clearly on display this morning, and we applaud our JCCs for responding calmly and efficiently,” said David Posner, director of strategic performance at the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America.

“While we’re extremely proud of our JCCs for professionally handling yet another threatening situation, we are concerned about the anti-Semitism behind these threats. While the bombs in question are hoaxes, the calls are not,” Posner’s statement said.

Dispatch Reporter Beth Burger contributed to this story.