A Bloomington man has been charged with two felony counts after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of the College Mall Monday night.
Bloomington Police responded to a bomb threat at Target at around 7:20 p.m., according to a press release. Once there, BPD found a man near the front of the store that multiple customers said had told them he had a bomb in his backpack.
Police identified the man as 41-year-old Rama Asuri. He was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital, then to the Monroe County Jail where he was charged with terroristic mischief and intimidation, both Level 5 felonies, according to the release.
In an eight-minute Facebook live video he posted, he can be seen walking throughout the store, talking about placing bombs and warning customers.
BPD assisted Target employees evacuating the store. Then, after officers found two unattended shopping carts in the store containing backpacks, the entire mall was evacuated.
Members of the Indiana State Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team were called in and determined the backpacks did not contain explosive and declared the area cleared at 10:20 p.m.
