Bomb threat closes streets

COEUR d’ALENE — A bomb threat near the Kootenai County Fairgrounds forced police to seal off streets and ask residents in the area to leave their homes Friday night.

Sgt. Christie Wood said a citizen walking on the sidewalk about 5:45 p.m. near Second Street and Kathleen Ave. spotted a suspicious suitcase in a grassy swale and called Coeur d’Alene police.

The suitcase had writing on it that said, “Warning. Do not touch. Boom.”

The Spokane bomb squad was en route.

Fairgoers who had parked on the streets cordoned off by police were not allowed to get their cars, Wood said.

Police went door-to-door alerting neighborhood residents about the bomb threat and advising them to leave their homes.

“We have to take all precautions,” she said.