Bush Said To Shop And They Listened
Wal-Mart doesn't have enough money, so an interruption in the holiday shopping season would really hurt them (sure):
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 next to customers who were browsing for gifts. The police looked in jewelry counters, wrapping paper rolls, 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 evacuate the busy discount store even though police recommended 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 the threat seriously.
So this is how Wal-Mart thanks their customers - by putting them in harms way? Of course Wal-Mart is not only to blame in this. The police and fire departments should have forced an evacuation.
During the first Gulf War, we had a bomb threat at a major mall in our town. As a firefighter, I was called to respond. We ordered the mall evacuated during the search, and it was done. The owners actually had no option - Ohio state law states that if there is a probably danger to the public and an evacuation is ordered by public safety, then it must be done. Perhaps South Dakota doesn't have the same laws.
