Tuscarawas County, Ohio (WJER) - A wave of email bomb threats being reported across the country has affected multiple agencies in Tuscarawas County. 

At the Tuscarawas County Courthouse, sheriff’s deputies were busy locking down the building Thursday afternoon after everyone was evacuated following an email bomb threat received by the IT department. Lt. Brian Alford says deputies secured the building but he says little more is known at this time.

“I don’t know who all received the email. I just know once the email came in, news started spreading, so we evacuated the building,” he says. “All of our deputies came in and linked up with the deputies that worked security at the courthouse, and they went room to room and floor to floor.”

Alford confirms that similar threats were made elsewhere in the county as well as Stark County. National news agencies are also reporting threats being made nationwide.
            
“We had deputies in the parking lot just to make sure it wasn’t a ruse to get people outside. Once we did that, now we’re just dealing with locking the doors and everything is secure. We’re assuming with all the calls coming in it wasn’t just for our courthouse. It’s a bulk email,” he says.

NBC News reports the threats are being made to hospitals, schools and other government agencies contained requests for bitcoin payments. The New York Police Department has issued a statement calling the threats a hoax.

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