NO BOMB, BUT BIG ANNOYANCE

JACKSON, Mo. -- The first courthouse bomb threat on Thursday was frightening, but the second call the same morning was just annoying, the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor said.

Shortly after 8 a.m., a man called the circuit clerk's office and said a bomb was in the County Courthouse and would explode at 9:30 a.m.

The sheriff's department evacuated the building, conducted a room-to-room search and allowed everyone to return at about 10 a.m., said John Jordan, Cape Girardeau County sheriff.

More than an hour later, the man called back, this time to the county administration building. It wasn't that the bomb had moved, he said, but the detonation time changed.

He claimed that it was set to blow at noon.

"At that point we figured out that unless we were dealing with a high-tech terrorist, this was a prank," said the prosecutor, Morley Swingle said.

Nevertheless, police and deputies treated the incident seriously and thoroughly searched the administration building, even though the man said the bomb was in the courthouse. All doors to the courthouse were locked, leaving one way in and out. This door was guarded by officers with metal detectors for the remainder of the day, Jordan said.

The sheriff believes someone was trying to avoid his day in court.

"Those are the first people who investigators are going to be looking at," Jordan said.

Despite the first delay, the criminal court docket was rearranged and nearly everyone appeared as scheduled, Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp said.

Only three did not show up for court dates, Kamp said, which is a better average than days that don't involve bomb threats.