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Wheaton apartment evacuated after resident claims to have bomb in his room

A number of units were evacuated Thursday after the incident. Police say the "items of concern" were found and the resident is now in custody.

WHEATON-GLENMONT, Md. — A bomb threat was made against a Wheaton apartment building Thursday, according to Montgomery County Fire.

Police were alerted around 6:15 a.m. and the apartment building - called Arrive Wheaton - was ultimately evacuated. Authorities began an investigation and evacuated a number of apartments.

Police said that they were initially called to the building for an automatic fire alarm when residents started telling the 911 center that a building resident had made comments about having a bomb in a unit. 

The 8th-floor resident was taken into custody by Montgomery County Police after rescue officials went in and "found items of concern and took action." 

Police say it is too early to give any additional details on those items. 

Other residents were relocated to the Wheaton rec center and library and started getting back to their units early Thursday afternoon.

The high-rise apartment is a 17-story building with 486 apartments. It's near the Wheaton Metro stop and features one and two-bedroom units and a pool.

Although WUSA9 rarely confirms bomb threats at apartments, a number of bomb threats to local schools have been reported this year.

Police continue to investigate multiple bomb threats against Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) over a span of six days. The threats began earlier this month on June 11. 

"The Fairfax County Police Department takes these threats seriously, and a detective from our Special Investigations Unit was immediately assigned to these cases," Second Lieutenant Yost wrote in an email to WUSA9.

Yost added that patrol units and K9 teams searched several of the locations due to the school’s request. 

Police said nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary has been found during searches, and the department believes the threats are "non-credible and originated from outside the country."

In February, DC police confirmed an all-clear at eight schools after bomb threats were made. Three of the threats happened just minutes apart and more threats were reported shortly after.

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