Police and CNN issued an all-clear message after the network’s New York offices and studios were evacuated Thursday night because of a phoned-in bomb threat, CNN reported.
“The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has now given us the all clear, and employees have been permitted to return to the building,” CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker said in an internal memo to staff.
“The building is secure and safe for everyone to return in the morning. We appreciate the swift action by the local authorities, and the patience and professionalism of all the employees who were impacted.”
The threat was not substantiated, the NYPD tweeted. The threat came Thursday night when a caller indicated there were five devices in the building, according to a law enforcement source.
Several fire alarm bells rang inside CNN’s New York newsroom, signaling an evacuation shortly after the call was received.
Staffers evacuated the CNN New York offices in the Time Warner Center building and Don Lemon’s “CNN Tonight,” which had been on a commercial break, was taken off the air.
The network temporarily went to taped programming for about half hour before going live from the street while police investigated.
Numerous police and fire department trucks blocked all vehicles and pedestrian traffic on West 58th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue due to a police investigation at Columbus Circle, where the Time Warner Center is located, the New York Police Department tweeted.
A bomb squad was on standby outside the building as police officers searched the offices, a law enforcement source said.
