14 DAY TRIAL // Police in Norfolk, Virginia received a bomb threat on September 11, while the Twin Tower attacks were being commemorated.
The tragic anniversary marks the date of the 2001 terrorist attacks, and it comes with other threats, searches and the reminder that you are never truly safe.
The alert was signaled in the morning, when someone called Virginia State Police and gave them a specific period of time when they should be worried about explosives in the Hampton Roads area.
"At approximately 7:50 a.m., Wednesday (Sept. 11, 2013), Virginia State Police received a phone call regarding a bomb threat within the Hampton Roads region. The threat included a timeframe for the threat to occur, which has since expired. At this time, no incidents have been reported anywhere in the Hampton Roads region," a police statement conveyed by Jobs and Hire reads.
Virginia police, Homeland Security, and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force assisted in searching all incoming and outgoing vehicles. That includes inspecting trucks and all the merchandise they are transporting.
The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and the Monitor-Merrimac Tunnel were blocked during the course of the investigation. They were reopened after the timeframe given out by police ran out.
"As a precautionary measure, state police immediately stepped up patrols within the region as well as initiated commercial vehicle inspections along Interstates 64 and 664. For the safety of the motoring public, the inspections will continue throughout the day due to it being the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks," officials informed the public during the day.
The operation was called off at around 3:15 p.m., with vehicles being allowed through the tunnels.
Motorists were asked by Hampton Roads Transit officials to be on high alert for suspicious cars and vehicles stationed for a while in specific areas.