Kentucky State Police evacuated the state Capitol following a threat received by the Secretary of State’s Office early Wednesday.
Kentucky’s deputy secretary of state received an email around 7:45 a.m. saying there was an explosive inside the state Capitol, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Kentucky State Police evacuated lawmakers, state employees and the public on site, but were still working to clear the building as of late Wednesday morning. Gov. Andy Beshear said in a social media post that “everyone is safe.”
A “mass email” was sent to legislatures and secretary of states’ offices in approximately 10 states, said Secretary of State communications director Michon Lindstrom. She said authorities don’t anticipate the threats are credible but are evacuating out of an abundance of caution.
“It just said ‘there is an explosive in your state Capitol’ so it didn’t make any references to the secretary of state’s office specifically,” Lindstrom said.
The Secretary of State’s Office was the only government office to receive the threat in Kentucky, she said.
Bomb threats were also reported Wednesday in Mississippi, Georgia and Connecticut.
This is a breaking story and may be updated.
