New York City police officers stand by near the Time Warner Center in New York on Dec. 6 after a bomb threat was called into the building and occupants were evacuated, including CNN employees. Police units swept the building with the NYPD bomb squad on standby. | Craig Ruttle/AP Photo Media NYPD issues all clear after bomb threat interrupts CNN live programming, forcing evacuation

CNN's New York studio was evacuated Thursday night in the middle of live programming following a phoned-in bomb threat.

The New York Police Department said that about 10:07 p.m. "a bomb threat was called into the Time Warner Center & the building was evacuated." The surrounding area, which includes the studios and a number of shops, was shut down.


An all-clear was confirmed just before midnight after the NYPD conducted a floor-by-floor sweep of the building.

"Out of the abundance of caution, 25 Columbus Circle was evacuated," the NYPD wrote on one of its official Twitter accounts at 11:54 p.m.

"Members of NYPD ESU & SRG have completed a sweep of the building & deemed it safe. The building has been reopened. The pedestrian freeze has been lifted & traffic on W 58th St. will be opened shortly."

CNN confirmed in a statement that a bomb threat had been called into its New York offices and employees had been evacuated.

A CNN report states the call came in about 9:47 p.m. The reason for the discrepancy with the NYPD's timing of the call was not immediately clear.

Host Don Lemon was on the air when the threat was called in and the building was evacuated, and was forced to resume broadcasting from the street via Skype.

As of 11:53 p.m., Lemon said the department had issued the all clear and he and his colleagues would begin to re-enter the building and continue his show from the studio.

"It's kind of a repeat situation of what happened back in October," Lemon said. "These are the times that we are living in where you're having bomb threats called into media companies and called into offices and disrupting people's lives."

The New York studios were evacuated in October after a man sent an explosive device to the network. Another device addressed to the news giant's headquarters in Atlanta was intercepted at a postal facility.

CNN Crime and Justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz and some of his other colleagues speculated that the NYPD had such a large response because the network has been a target of anti-media invective.