FORT HALL — Business has resumed after a Friday afternoon bomb threat forced the evacuation of more than 600 people from the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Event Center, Fort Hall Casino, the Trading Post Grocery Store and Enterprise Gas Station Friday afternoon. The evacuation began after a bomb threat call was made to the casino about 4:40 p.m. The area was cleared as safe about 7:40 p.m. and business resumed.

    It is the second time in three days that buildings on the reservation have been targeted by bomb threats. The Tribal Business Center and surrounding buildings were evacuated Wednesday afternoon and a subsequent search found no explosives.

    As Friday's situation unfolded, guests and employees of the hotel complex and casino were relocated to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Justice Center, located about a mile from the hotel and casino complex. Bomb sniffing dogs were called in from Pocatello and Idaho Falls police departments and the Idaho Department of Transportation closed off both the north and southbound exits into Fort Hall from Interstate-15.

    “They set off the alarm and evacuated everybody,” a female casino employee said.

    “Our evacuation plan worked well,” said tribal business council member, Tino Batt.

    In response to this second bomb threat this week, Batt said the FBI was already working the first bomb threat and immediately put its resources on Friday's event. Batt said area cell phone service providers were working with the FBI to pinpoint the source of the bomb threat.

    “This is serious,” Batt said. “Especially when it deals with the safety of our people and our guests.”

    Clearing out the casino and hotel complex was also expensive in terms of lost revenue.

    “It's going to be in the thousands,” Batt said about the lost revenue.

    In addition to the usual gaming taking place at the casino, the event center was hosting a bridal show that was disrupted by the evacuation. Batt said there were about 80 guests staying at the hotel.

    Inside the Tribal Business Center, employees were awaiting ballots from the primary tribal council election held at different polling places within the reservation. A total of 15 primary candidates were vying for an opportunity to run for four open seats May 31.

    Batt said he doubted the bomb threats have any connection to the primary election, but he's hoping authorities can determine who is responsible and why the reservation has been the target of the recent bomb threats.

    According to a press release, the Fort Hall Business Council has ordered that tribal agencies and the FBI to pursue full prosecutions”to the highest extent of the law.”