UPDATE: Ross Park Mall Reopens After Bomb Threat
Mall officials announced through their Facebook page at about 10:45 a.m. that mall employees could return to work.
No threat was discovered this morning at the Ross Park Mall after Ross Township Police and Allegheny County Police spent several hours investigating a bomb threat.
The mall was evacuated and access to it was blocked off by police and security personnel for several hours this morning after the threat was discovered at about 5:50 a.m.
The mall is scheduled to reopen at 11 a.m. Employees were told to return to work at about 10:45 am.
"We want to assure customers and employees that every precaution was taken, the situation was addressed and Ross Township Police have determined there was never any danger or device at the mall," Ross Park Mall spokesman Saul Markowitz said in an emailed statement.
The evacuation began after a mall employee found a note on a wall in one of the mall's public restrooms with the bomb threat, according to Ross Park Mall spokesman Saul Markowitz and Ross Police Det. Brian Kohlhepp.
Details about the note are not being released, said Kohlhepp, the Ross Police spokesman.
"We're not getting into specifics on the note," Kohlhepp said.
The mall regularly opens at 10 a.m. It employs about 3,000.
Mall officials lett employees know when to return to work through the mall's Facebook page and the media. Employees gathered at the Panera Bread restaurant on McKnight and the parking lot of Roomful Express, across from the mall's entrance, while they waited for the news.