Area evacuated after bomb threat called in to police for Ralph Lauren store on Nantucket

Authorities evacuated the area and temporarily closed off a section around Nantucket’s Main Street after receiving a bomb threat for the Ralph Lauren store on Friday morning, police said.

Around 5:45 a.m., police responded to the area of 16 Main St. after the threat was called into the police department’s non-emergency phone line, police said.

“We received a bomb threat. We responded accordingly, where we evacuated the area and closed the roads. We worked with the State Police Bomb Squad to clear the building,” Nantucket Police Lt. Angus MacVicar said Friday morning.

The building and roads were reopened at 7 a.m., he said. Some residential apartments near the popular designer store in the island’s downtown district were also evacuated as a precaution.

Investigators are working to track down the source of the bomb threat, as the phone number “doesn’t appear it came from the island or possibly the country,” MacVicar said.

“We’re working with other agencies to figure out the phone number it was called in on and why that building specifically,” he said.

Last month, police also responded to another bomb threat that was emailed in for the Town Hall on Broad Street.

Friday’s incident occurred as school officials are investigating after a photo circulated online of Nantucket High School students holding up a sign with “a very inappropriate racial slur,” Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Hallett said in a letter to families.

Police are working with school officials on that investigation, MacVicar said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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