Columbus Government Center evacuated as law enforcement investigates reported bomb threat

Officers are reporting an all clear at the Government Center after the building was evacuated due to a reported bomb threat.

At 12:54 p.m., workers were told to leave the building and go to the Broadway median in front of the RiverCenter, multiple staff members told a Ledger-Enquirer reporter.

Police officers and sheriff’s deputies began blocking off streets surrounding the building around 1 p.m. Intersections between Ninth and Tenth Street between Broadway and Second Avenue were all closed, but began reopening around 1:30 p.m.

The Government Center was placed on lockdown yesterday after gunshots were reported in the east wing. Officials later discovered an assistant district attorney died by suicide in his office.

This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 1:26 PM.

Tim Chitwood

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

706-571-8508

Tim Chitwood is from Seale, Alabama, and started as a police beat reporter with the Ledger-Enquirer in 1982. He since has covered Columbus’ serial killings and other homicides, following some from the scene of the crime to trial verdicts and ensuing appeals. He also has been a Ledger-Enquirer humor columnist since 1987. He’s a graduate of Auburn University, and started out working for the weekly Phenix Citizen in Phenix City, Ala.