A fake bomb threat targets two Maple Grove homes owned by the family of murdered UHC executive Brian Thompson

A fake bomb threat targets two Maple Grove homes owned by the family of murdered UHC executive Brian Thompson

A day after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed on a Manhattan street, two of his family’s nearby homes in Maple Grove were targeted in a bomb threat that police said they quickly determined was an act the “swatter” acted.

Police said they received a report of the threat around 7 p.m. Wednesday, which allegedly targeted residences about a half-mile apart. According to police reports, the threat was made in an email to several people who in turn alerted law enforcement.

One home belongs to Thompson and the other to his wife, Paulette Thompson, according to Hennepin County property records.

“No devices or suspicious items were found during the investigation,” the police said in a statement in connection with what they classified as a suspected swatting attack case. “The case is considered an active investigation while the incident appears to be a fabrication.”

Swatting is the false reporting of an emergency with the intent to send the police to someone’s home. On August 1, swatting was upgraded from a gross misdemeanor to a felony in Minnesota.

Officials across the country have fallen victim to swatting incidents, as have judges overseeing cases against former President Donald Trump. In January, someone tried to lure police and a hostage taker to the Delano home of Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota by claiming a murder had taken place there.

Maple Grove police said they were assisted in their investigation by the Minneapolis Police Department’s bomb squad and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

In New York, police released a photo Thursday showing the face of a “person of interest” in the fatal ambush of the executive as he walked to a hotel where an investor conference was scheduled that day.

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