Police investigating threat of violence at Fred Meyer

Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, January 31, 2023

This article has been updated to include new information.

There is not a current threat at Juneau’s Fred Meyer store, Juneau Police Department stated in a social media post, but police are continuing to investigate a reported threat of violence.

In an earlier social media post, JPD stated Kroger Inc., the North Carolina-based owner of Fred Meyer, reported that its customer service department had received a phone call from an unknown male who was upset and made a threat of violence at Fred Meyer, according to police. The exact nature of the threat was not specified.

In an updated post, JPD stated the report was possibly a hoax and compared it to “swatting,” a type of sometimes deadly prank in which false reports of serious crimes are made to law enforcement agencies to attract SWAT teams to a location.

Despite speculation on social media, there were no reports of injury or discharged weapons at the store, said Juneau Police Department spokesperson Erann Kalwara in a phone interview with the Empire.

“Those are just rumors,” she said.

• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.