UPDATE (11:26 a.m.) - Court officials say authorities have concluded their investigation at the courthouse and court operations will resume at 1:30 p.m. The sheriff's office says nothing suspicious was found.
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(9:20 a.m.) - The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office is investigating reports of a threat at the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse Tuesday morning.
Sheriff’s officials are being fairly tight-lipped about the ongoing investigation, but say another agency received the call. The sheriff’s office says out of an abundance of caution, the presiding judge asked everyone to leave the building and area until further notice.
Deputies and K9s were still searching the building as of 9:30 a.m. It was not known how long they expected to be on scene.
The sheriff’s office is handling the investigation since the courthouse is county property, but San Luis Obispo police are also assisting.
Court officials say COVID is further complicating the incident since people cannot congregate in groups.
Geoff O’Quest, Superior Court CFO and Sr. Administrative Director, says this is the third evacuation at the courthouse since the beginning of the pandemic.
"It makes it complicated because of COVID. We can't have people congregating in any particular location, so we try to be mindful of that," O'Quest explained.
KSBY has a crew at the scene and will provide updates as they become available.
