The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- The FBI has warned armed forces recruiting centers nationwide that terrorists might try to target them, an agency spokeswoman said Friday.
Wendy Osborne, the FBI’s Indiana spokeswoman, said the agency has received “no specific or credible information” of threats against any of Indiana’s military recruiting offices. She declined to discuss the warning’s details and would say only that the warning was sent recently.
“Any time we receive information that might be a little bit specific, in this case relative to military recruiting offices, we obviously alert that entity and let them know to be on the lookout for anything unusual,” she said.
Mary Auer, a spokeswoman for the Army Recruiting Center state headquarters in Indianapolis, said the warning from the FBI was sent this week. She said she received an e-mail regarding it on Thursday.
“This was a nationwide alert sent to recruiting centers,” Auer told the South Bend Tribune for a story Friday. “So far, I am not aware of any incidents that have occurred. ... We have appropriate force measures in place in case something happens.”
The alert said an attack on recruiting centers was possible in the next two months, but did not include specific information on the type of threat that might be, the newspaper reported.
Mike Samp, chief of the investigative division of the Mishawaka Police Department, said officers would keep an eye on that city’s military recruiting office.
“Every time they pass through that area, they will be on the alert for anything that’s out of place,” Samp said.
Increased vigilance has become the norm, regardless of whether a specific threat has been made, said George Noirot, public affairs chief for the Great Lakes Army Recruiting Battalion in Lansing, Mich.
“We live in a different time than we did five years ago,” he said. “Times are different, so we take every caution with a great deal of concern.”