Owings Mills JCC, Jewish Day Schools Targets Of Bomb Threat

The Jewish Community Center in Owings Mills became the latest Jewish institution to receive a bomb threat in a rash of anti-Semitic incidents across the country.

Baltimore County police said the bomb threat was called into the JCC, located in the 3500 block of Gwynnbrook Avenue, at about 10 a.m. Police responded to the scene at 10:10 a.m. and the scene was cleared by 11:07 a.m.

JCC CEO Barak Hermann confirmed the threat with a statement posted on the organization’s website. Hermann said the threat was called into the front desk.

The Owings Mills facility was one of multiple JCCs and Jewish day schools on the East Coast that received threats on Monday, including the Aleph Bet Jewish Day School in Annapolis and the Charles E Smith Jewish Day School's upper school campus in Rockville.

“Once the threat was received, we immediately followed our safety and security protocols and coordinated with Baltimore County law enforcement. Law enforcement and our security consultants believe that these threats appear similar to the ‘hoax’ threats that JCCs have received over the last two months,” Hermann said in a statement.

Hermann said after consulting with law enforcement and conducting an extensive security sweep of the building, it was determined an evacuation was not required. This threat comes after a similar one reported at the Park Heights JCC last month.

“We continue to make security and safety our foremost priority,” Hermann said in the statement. “We are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, as well as the Secure Community Network (SCN), which is focused on security for Jewish institutions throughout North America.”

Hermann said the JCC is working closely with local Congressional representatives, the Justice Department and the FBI to intensify the efforts to address these threats.

“It is imperative that immediate steps be taken to respond to the situation and identify and prosecute the perpetrators, so that we can stop future acts of intimidation,” Hermann said. “Our security team has declared that our JCC is safe and is continuing regular operations.

“We will continue our communications to keep you fully apprised of the evolving situation. As a community, we must continue to work together to combat anti-Semitism in all its forms.”

The incident at Owings Mills JCC remains under investigation, police said.