Police Investigate Fake Hostage Threat At Grand Forks Wal-Mart

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Police in Grand Forks, N.D. are investigating what turned out to be a phony threat about a hostage situation at a Wal-Mart Monday morning.

Around 8:45 p.m. Sunday, the store manager called 911 while a co-worker was on the phone with a man claiming to be in the store, armed with a gun and holding two people hostage.

The suspect demanded cash and threatened to harm hostages if he did not get it. He also threatened to kill a hostage if police entered the store.

This is the same store where an airman shot two employees in May before turning the gun on himself.

After calling police, Wal-Mart employees rounded up people who were not in the area of the store where the suspect claimed to be, and moved them to a secure location inside the store.

Once the customers were moved a store manager tried to talk with the suspect, but he quickly said he was joking and hung up.

Police set up a large perimeter outside the Wal-Mart, and questioned roughly 150 people after it all ended.

Customers and employees were not allowed to leave until after midnight, more than three-and-a-half hours after this all started.

Investigators do not think there was any real threat, but do want to find out who made the phone call.