Suspect in custody for Waukesha County Courthouse bomb threat, sheriff's department says

A suspect linked to a bomb threat that prompted the evacuation of and closed the Waukesha County Courthouse and administration building Monday has been arrested, the sheriff's department said.

Charges are pending.

The announcement of the arrest comes just a few hours after the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department released images of a man labeled as a person of interest and his vehicle.

Sheriff Eric Severson said in a news conference shortly before noon that the threat was being treated as serious. He said there was enough information in the threat to warrant the evacuation.

A Milwaukee County K-9 unit swept the buildings. Severson declined to discuss what, if anything, was found.

The evacuation began shortly after a call was received at a local TV news station, WITI, in which an anonymous caller claimed that "five bombs were placed in the courthouse, and the first one was set to go off at 9 a.m.," Severson said at the news conference, held in the north parking lot along Moreland Boulevard.

That call was relayed by WITI-TV to the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office at 8:52 a.m., just eight minutes before the first device supposedly was set to detonate.

"Based on the information and the safety of all the individuals at the courthouse, I made the decision to evacuate the courthouse, the administrative building, the juvenile center and the wellness center," Severson said.

Then, at 9:10 a.m., the county's dispatch center received a subsequent call, from an anonymous male, essentially repeating the threat. Sheriff officials opted to call in Milwaukee County's bomb squad to begin a thorough search of the building.

Within an hour of the called-in threat, officials began notifying the public about the emergency, even before any additional details were confirmed.

County Executive Paul Farrow said in a tweet that the courthouse complex and administration building were evacuated due to an unspecified "security threat."

"Please do not attempt to enter these facilities until further notice," he wrote.

A subsequent news release from Farrow's office clarified that the facilities closed due to a bomb threat.

Also, at about 10 a.m., some area residents received alerts on their phones that read, "Extreme Alert: Waukesha County Courthouse and admin center are closed until further notice due to a security concern. Check website and media for updates."

Severson said the alert system isn't perfect, but is useful nonetheless.

"I think it's effective. Did it get to everyone it was supposed to? Probably not," he said, noting that the system was set up to automatically alert people within a certain radius of the courthouse. "The good thing is that we don't have to keep sending the messages out manually."

The county buildings are expected to reopen Tuesday.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.