Person arrested after alleged false threat at Northland Ford facility, causing evacuation
Law enforcement officials announced Wednesday they arrested someone accused of making a false threat at a Ford Motor Company plant in Kansas City’s Northland, forcing the plant to shut down operations and evacuate workers.
One person was arrested in connection with the threat at the Claycomo plant, and investigators are preparing the case for prosecutors, said Sheriff Will Akin with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
Ford’s security and risk management team received a call around 5 p.m. Tuesday from someone who claimed to be a disgruntled employee barricaded in a factory bathroom, Akin said. The person who made the threat claimed to be armed with explosives, a rifle and a handgun.
After not finding the suspect in the area they claimed to be, law enforcement from Claycomo and Clay County called in officials from Kansas City, Gladstone, North Kansas City, Liberty and Platte County as well as the FBI to search the 6 million square foot facility.
The search took around 6 hours, Akin said. Employees were evacuated and production was shut down at the facility and was canceled for Tuesday’s night shift.
“This hoax created a huge strain on law enforcement not to mention the financial loss that Ford suffered from shutting down production,” Akin said.
