SHELBY, N.C. — A Florida man has been arrested in connection with bomb threats that led to evacuations at three stores in Rutherford County.
The threats did not include the Walmart in Shelby, which was also evacuated.
Police say Charles Parris once lived in Rutherford County but now resides in Gainesville, Florida. He’s accused of making bomb threats that forced evacuations at the Lowe’s and Walmart in Forest City.
“I don’t really understand what the point of that would be besides just scaring people,” said Virginia Russell, who works in a store near the Walmart in Shelby. She said Walmart customers started pouring into her shop after it was evacuated on Thursday.
Investigators say the same thing happened at the Lowe’s in Forest City five days before the call in Shelby, and again at the same Lowe’s on the same day as the Shelby threat. There was another call into the Walmart in Forest City at the same time. Police emptied both stores for hours.
“We have to treat them as serious and make sure everybody is safe in the community,” said Forest City Police Chief Chris LeRoy.
Forest City police called in help from 16 other agencies, including the SBI and U.S. Marshalls.
“Hold them accountable, especially if it creates the kind of chaos that it created last week,” LeRoy said.
Authorities arrested Parris in Florida on Friday.
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