Big crowds on Nicollet Mall watch and wait as a bomb threat situation develops at the M&I Bank off 6th Street. Photo by Jeff Goldberg / FOX 9 News.MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) -
Minneapolis police cleared traffic and pedestrians from Nicollet Mall during the Friday lunch hour as they dealt with a bomb threat inside a skyway bank.
Police on the street near the scene said they were dealing with someone inside an M&I Bank branch who claimed to have a bomb. Officers told FOX 9 the bank was evacuated of all other people.
The situation developed around 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Officers closed 6th Street was between Hennepin and Marquette avenues, and Nicollet Mall was closed from 5th to 7th streets.
The FBI and SWAT gathered with police at a staging area near the scene and called for a negotiator, but the suspect told police he wouldn't negotiate until he could see a TV news truck. Police then opened the perimeter and allowed a WCCO truck to drive toward the bank.
WCCO reported that a man made contact with the station twice on Friday, even coming to their studios at 11th and Nicollet on Friday morning and asking to speak with a reporter. WCCO believes the same man called a short time later and again asked to speak with a reporter, and threatened that they would "hear about it" is his story wasn't heard. There's no confirmed connection between those incidents and the skyway bomb threat.
Around 1 p.m. SWAT team officers entered the Saks Off Fifth store at Gaviidae Common. A short time later, the suspect surrendered.
Sgt. Steve McCarty said no one was hurt in the incident. The evacuation order was lifted and streets were reopened after the suspect's arrest.
