NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The area of a mental health facility in New Haven is all clear after bomb threats were reported Tuesday, officials said.
The scare was at Retreat Behavioral Heath on Ella Grosso Blvd. New Haven police said all roads are now open, and it is safe to return to the area.
Officials on scene confirmed 50 patients and 20 staffers were evacuated from the building. Some were taken on buses to safe locations.
"A multi coordination of so many agencies are required to be done really quickly. The New Haven Police Department, New Haven Fire Department, American Medical Response, the hazardous devices unit," Rick Fontana, the emergency operations director for New Haven, told FOX61.
The reported bomb threats come just days after the downtown New Haven area was shut down and several buildings on the Yale University were evacuated after a similar incident.
In fact, Cornell, Columbia and Brown Universities also received bomb threats the same week. None of the threats were found to be credible.
"Falsely reporting a bomb incident is a crime, and it is considered a terrorist act. So when people are doing that they should take into consideration," former police chief and University of New Haven criminal justice professor, John DeCarlo said.
Officials say they do not have enough information at this time to confirm a connection between today's incident and the recent threats.
"We don't think that it's anyway related to the Yale one or any universities that's been going on. It's in close proximity and time but not related," acting police chief Renee Dominguez said.
The Major Crimes Unit continues to investigate.
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