By Sarah Richardson
According to a press release sent from Chief Chris Teubert of the Lewisburg Police Department, “On Tuesday, Feb. 18, at approximately 11:15 a.m., Lewisburg City Hall received a phone call of a possible bomb threat. City Hall was immediately evacuated and the Lewisburg Police and Fire Departments responded to and secured the scene.”
Greenbrier County Sheriff Bruce Sloan said, “The caller made a specific threat to City Hall, but also made separate, generic statements about courthouses in the state.” In an abundance of caution, the Greenbrier County Courthouse was evacuated, as well, and all public employees were sent home for the day. Both locations were closed to the public for the remainder of the business day.
City Hall and the Courthouse were then “visually inspected” by local law enforcement as they awaited the arrival of a bomb-detecting dog from Fayette County. Creasy, a seven-year-old German Shepherd, arrived around 1:30 p.m. with his handler, Senior Trooper S.G. Milam of Fayette County, and cleared both of the buildings. No suspicious activity was detected at either location, and they were both reopened the following day.
The press release states, “A subsequent investigation was conducted by the Lewisburg Police Department with Dep. Chief Vance as the lead investigator along with the assistance of the FBI, WV State Police, and the City of Cleveland Ohio Police Department which resulted in the arrest of Michael Joseph Neely Jr. in Cleveland Ohio.”
Neely was charged in the Greenbrier County Magistrate Court with felony threats of terrorist acts and false reports concerning bombs or other explosive devices. He was incarcerated in Cleveland, Ohio, awaiting extradition back to West Virginia.
Possible threats to other locations and state officials made by the same suspect are also under investigation.
