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Chattanooga: Security tightened at BlueCross

By: Adam Crisp
(Contact)

By: Jacqueline Koch
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Security is tightened and a $10,000 reward is offered after a string of problems at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee properties over the last two weeks.

Two nooses have been found at the construction site of the new BlueCross headquarters on Cameron Hill and a bomb threat Friday prompted a citywide evacuation of 10 BlueCross properties.

Skanska/EMJ/Russell, the partners building the insurance company’s new headquarters, announced the reward Friday, said John Reyhan, Skanska’s general manager. He also said the group is working with the FBI and has established a hotline for employees who spot suspicious behavior.

“Our goal is to provide a safe and healthy work environment for our employees,” Mr. Reyhan said. “We want to be aggressive in getting to the bottom of who’s responsible for these acts.”

The company’s announcement of a reward came just a few hours after the bomb-scare evacuation, Mr. Reyhan said. Skanska/EMJ/Russell was working on the reward and hotline before the bomb scare, Mr. Reyhan said, and there was no indication that the nooses and the threat were related.

Staff Photo by Margaret Fenton
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee incident commander and manager of security and safety Mack Kelly, center, allowed employees back into the building at 7th and Broad streets at 5:10 p.m. Friday after Chattanooga police officer Jonathan Mance, far right, and Sgt. Al Tallant from the bomb squad completed their sweep of the downtown offices. All BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee office buildings in Chattanooga were evacuated around 3 p.m. Friday, officials said. Police said a bomb threat was made to the company but did not specify a location.

BlueCross became aware of the bomb threat after it was called into a local TV station, said Chattanooga Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Kim Noorbergen. The threat, which came in about 2 p.m. Friday, was directed at the company’s downtown properties, she said.

“BlueCross BlueShield felt for the safety of everyone and evacuated all its properties across the city,” Lt. Noorbergen said.

In all, 10 buildings and 4,000 employees were evacuated, BlueCross officials said.

That included its Eastgate Town Center location, where employees gathered in groups in nearby parking lots while waiting for Chattanooga police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to check the building.

Most of the company’s workers went home early following the scare, BlueCross spokeswoman Mary Thompson said.

BlueCross branches in Nashville and Memphis were not closed, company officials said.

Ms. Thompson directed all other questions to the Chattanooga Police Department and the FBI.

“I have to defer you to the police department or the FBI for details on the incident (Friday),” she said.

The FBI, already investigating the noose incidents as possible hate crimes, now is investigating the bomb scare, too, said Ed Galloway, resident agent in charge of the FBI’s Chattanooga bureau. He would not comment on whether the bomb threat was linked to two nooses found Aug. 7 and Thursday, respectively, at the construction site. Nor would he comment on the source of the bomb threat.

“We are actively pursuing leads,” Mr. Galloway said.

The bomb threat is the latest in a series of troubles for BlueCross. About the time the first noose was found, several employees of Skanska, the site’s general contract workers, were sent to the hospital with diarrhea, nausea and other complaints over two consecutive days.

A report released Friday by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department said it could not name a definitive source for the illnesses.

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