UPDATED: Providence City Hall Evacuated Over Shooting Threat

UPDATED: Providence City Hall Evacuated Over Shooting Threat

Providence City Hall was evacuated on Tuesday afternoon over a shooting threat. 

Providence Police Detectives Major David Lapatin told GoLocal a man called police saying he was at the Biltmore Garage with a gun, and was going to shoot City Hall. 

“Police are there and are still looking — they’re focusing on the garage,” Lapatin told GoLocal.

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At 5:00 PM, Chief Oscar Perez issued the following statement to GoLocal.

"Just before 3 PM we received a call from an agitated male stating he was in possession of AR-15. He also stated he had three pipe bombs. He stated he had one with him. He had placed one in front of the garage on Washington Street and one near City Hall. We have a policy on high-risk calls, and our officer in charge of the shift deploys the needed resources to ensure the safety of everyone in the immediate area which includes our special response unit. Some locations were evacuated for the safety of the public, and once we determined that It was safe, people were allowed to go back to the place of business," said Perez. 

"Unfortunately, This was one of those hoax calls that unfortunately disturbs the public, but police responded with the necessary resources to ensure the safety of everyone if in fact, is a legitimate call. Detectives will investigate further, and we will hold accountable those responsible," Perez added.

This story is developing...