The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is allowing visitors evacuated from the zoo after a swatting call May 2 to request ticket transfers or refunds.
The zoo was evacuated after the zoo received a threat of a bomb and active shooter at 2:18 p.m. May 2. A law enforcement search of the grounds yielded no suspicious items and the zoo reopened with normal hours May 3.
The zoo is requesting that customers who want either a ticket transfer or refund email info@columbuszoo.org with their request and order number, according to Jen Fields, a spokesperson for the zoo.
Fields said that the customer care team is working as quickly as possible, but response times may be higher than expected because of the higher volume of requests.
The Columbus Zoo was one of several zoos to receive bomb threats in recent days. Affected zoos in other cities include Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Denver and Phoenix.
The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office investigated the swatting call along with other responding law enforcement. Swatting calls are false threats called to emergency services with the intent of drawing law enforcement to a scene.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers regional/suburban trending stories for The Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Zoo offers transfers, refunds after evacuation over bomb threat
Reporting by Anna Lynn Winfrey, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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