Business at the Seagrape Café and The Inn at Fairfield Beach was disrupted on Friday, Oct. 24, when police received a call about a possible bomb threat at the two locations.
“Our department received the call at 10:01 p.m. and then we relayed that threat to the town police department,” said Assistant Director of Public Safety John Ritchie, adding that the matter is still “under investigation.”
Both the Fairfield Sun and The Daily Voice reported that no suspects were identified over the weekend, and that the Fairfield Police Department was sure that the owner of the phone that placed the call was not tied to the threat.
Furthermore, the phone’s owner was unaware that their number had been used to place the call to Fairfield.
According to The Daily Voice, the ‘Grape chose not to evacuate patrons, saying that they had not seen any suspicious persons enter the ‘Grape during the day, and that tight security posted at the doors during all business hours would eliminate any possible danger.
Ritchie said that he has no comment regarding this decision by the ‘Grape management: “Everybody takes these threats differently,” he explained.
While police were investigating the alleged threat that same evening, an unknown patron pulled the fire alarm leading to the evacuation of the bar at 11:40 p.m., following the police evacuation of the Inn at 11:30 p.m., the Fairfield Sun reported.
Per The Daily Voice, Fairfield Police conducted a thorough investigation of both the Inn and the ‘Grape, calling in state bomb technicians and detection dogs who determined that there was no evidence of a bomb in either location.
Patrons were allowed to re-enter both locations that same evening.
Ritchie said that to his knowledge this is the first time in the history of the ‘Grape that a bomb threat has been reported, and that Fairfield has not had to deal with any type of similar threat “in the recent past.”
The threat came at a particularly inconvenient time as both locations were teeming with former students returning to the area for Fairfield’s Alumni & Family Weekend.
All 14 rooms at the Inn had been rented out according to The Daily Voice, and the evacuation cost the Inn more than $530 after two patrons decided to check out of their rooms following the scare.
Ritchie stated that while some threats should be taken more seriously than others, “These days nobody wants to mess around. If you receive a bomb threat you want to take it as credible.”
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