PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A service plaza along Florida's Turnpike in Port St. Lucie was evacuated Friday while authorities investigated a bomb threat involving charter buses, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The plaza was evacuated at about 3:30 p.m. and reopened a little after 5 p.m., Port St. Lucie police said.
FHP Lt. Indiana Miranda said charter buses taking students from the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center near Aventura stopped at the service plaza. That's when one of the students showed troopers a text message referencing a bomb threat on one of the buses.
Troopers evacuated the plaza and transferred the students to a nearby school while they investigated the credibility of the threat.
Miranda later said there was no bomb located during the sweep at the service plaza.
The group had another charter bus traveling with them that had stopped at the Fort Drum Service Plaza. An explosive K-9 team conducted a sweep at both locations. No bomb was found during a sweep at the Fort Drum Service Plaza either.
Miranda said they do not have any leads on the threat. Investigators were looking into the source of how the threat was generated.