Bomb threat empties Siksika elders' lodge

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The Siksika Elders Lodge was evacuated last Monday by Gleichen RCMP after a bomb threat was discovered on the answering machine by an employee returning from lunch.

Const. Maury Medjuck responded to the call from lodge supervisor Delbert Scalp Lock.

"We had to evacuate the five residents and four staff members from the building," said Scalp Lock. "We shut down the electricity and called someone in to turn off the gas line."

The message on the answering machine was discovered by Elizabeth Weasel Child, who works part-time as a filing secretary at the lodge.

"At first I couldn't hear (the message) properly, so I played it over again. The second time I heard it my heart sunk to my feet. That's when I called Delbert and told him."

A dog trained to sniff out explosives was called in from Calgary. The dog arrived later in the afternoon while the RCMP and lodge staff waved people away from the building and from the driveway entrance.

Medjuck said 99 per cent of bomb threats are hoaxes, but each one has to be treated seriously since the threat could be real.