The Siegel Jewish Community Center in North Wilmington was evacuated briefly Monday morning following a bomb threat.
According to local police, it’s the third bomb threat at the center this year – following two threats in January.
This threat was made by phone – and reported to New Castle County Police around 10 a.m.
By 11:30 a.m. – police determined there was no bomb and programs in the community center resumed.
"The continued bomb threats to Siegel JCC must stop. These hateful actions place a shadow over our state and country. Our law enforcement officials will continue to work diligently to find the individuals responsible and hold them accountable,” said Gov. John Carney in a statement Monday afternoon.
Several similar incidents were reported elsewhere nationally Monday – including at Jewish community centers in nearby Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
The threats come on the heels of police discovering close to 100 toppled headstones at a Philadelphia Jewish cemetery Sunday.
"We are confident that local, state and federal law enforcement are doing everything in their power to catch the perpetrators and bring them to justice," Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Nancy K. Baron-Baer said in a statement. "We call on all decent citizens – from our neighbors to our national leaders – to vigorously condemn the outbreak of anti-Semitism across the country.”
Delaware's senior Senator, Tom Carper was at the Siegel JCC Monday morning meeting with leadership of the Jewish Federation of Delaware and Jewish Community Services to discuss the rash of threats and violence toward the Jewish community locally and nationwide when the center received this latest threat.
"It is heartbreaking for such a flash of fear to overtake a place of strong community and joy that brings together people of all ages under one roof - from the babies in the daycare center to the senior citizens taking part in exercise classes," said Carper in a statement. "These acts must end."
