Bomb hoax leads to brief evacuation at Columbia Center in Kennewick

A hoax bomb threat Saturday afternoon led Kennewick police and security at Columbia Center to evacuate the Sears store at the shopping mall.

The bomb threat was made in a phone call to Sears, police said in a release. People were seen standing outside the storefront early in the afternoon. Other portions of Columbia Center appeared to remain open during the incident as customers could be seen entering and leaving through other entrances.

Mall security would not allow media onto the property and said the mall’s owners had no statement on the incident at that time.

An explosive detection team from Hanford Patrol determined there was no viable threat and the store was reopened, police say. The incident is still under investigation.

This story was originally published June 18, 2016 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Bomb hoax leads to brief evacuation at Columbia Center in Kennewick."