AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine State House was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after a bomb threat was emailed to the account of a State House employee.
The threat was discovered at about 1:45 p.m., at which point Capitol Police shut down the building and evacuated roughly 300 people, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said. No one was injured.
The Maine State Police Bomb Unit searched the building with dogs but found no explosives. Moss said the threat was deemed to be a hoax.
Legislatures in at least seven other states also evacuated their buildings Wednesday after a bomb threat that CNN reported was sent to government offices in 23 states. No evidence of explosives had been found in any of them.
Several legislative committees paused their meetings at about 2:30 p.m. after members were asked to leave the rooms. Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, and House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, sent staff home and said hearings would be rescheduled.
BDN writer Ethan Andrews contributed reporting to this story.