Ford plant in Missouri shuts down over ‘possible threat,’ sheriff’s office says

(CLAYCOMO, Mo.) — A Ford assembly plant in Claycomo, Missouri, was evacuated and shut down on Tuesday night after police received a report about a possible threat.

At a press conference, Clay County Sheriff’s Office officials said a man who claimed to be armed with explosives, a rifle and a handgun barricaded himself in a bathroom. The incident occurred at 5:20 p.m. local time.

As authorities tried to verify the possible threat, the man provided officers with a fake name. He was, however, able to correctly name a supervisor at the plant, law enforcement said. The man’s identity is not known.

The call about the possible threat came from a spoofed number, the sheriff’s office said, noting it makes it challenging to verify.

The incident prompted an evacuation at the Ford plant and a suspension of production for the night.

Late Tuesday night, the sheriff’s department said its Special Tactics and Response (STAR) Team “was unable to locate anyone on their initial search of the area where the suspect said he was located.”

The Ford plant is large — about 5 million square feet, per Kansas City ABC station KMBC-TV — and additional tactical teams in the region were recruited to help search and clear the facility.

Negotiators and response teams from law enforcement agencies are on site, officials said during their earlier press conference.

No injuries have been reported, and there is no evidence of gunfire or weapons, the sheriff’s office said earlier. Authorities are taking the threat seriously and treating it as real until proven otherwise.

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