Greenville Man Went To Local TV Station, Said He Had a Bomb

A man from Greenville, Michigan, went into a local television station claiming he had a bomb in his backpack and he wanted to die.

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Greenville Man Drives to Kalamazoo

What seemed like a gorgeous day in Michigan for most people was a dark day for a 36-year-old man from Greenville. He grabbed a backpack and got into his car for what he thought would be his final drive as he drove to Kalamazoo.

The distraught man drove all the way to New Channel 3 WWMT located at 590 W. Mapel St. in Kalamazoo. The man arrived shortly after 2 p.m. and entered the lobby saying he had a news tip the station may be interested in covering.

News Tip Turns To Bomb Threat

According to WWMT, the Greenville man was greeted in the lobby by the station's chief engineer George Markel who said,

I looked at the clock and said there was nobody in news at this point and time, and when he didn't like the response he said he had an explosive device and started pushing past me.

What started as a news tip quickly turned into an evacuation when the Greenville man said he had a bomb and wanted to die. Station engineer Markle saw no one else was around and was quick thinking when he locked the man in the lobby then went back through the building alerting other workers to evacuate and authorities were called.

Negotiations With Greenville Man

Police negotiated with the man for a couple of hours before he decided to walk out of the lobby peacefully where he was met by officers.

Police greeted the man calmly and then arrested him. The man came out without the backpack so a bomb squad robot went in for the backpack and located a fake bomb that didn't have any explosive material.

The man is being charged with making a terroristic threat and if convicted could spend 20 years behind bars.