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Man arrested after threats to Federal Building in downtown Pittsburgh, building in D.C.

PITTSBURGH — A man was arrested for allegedly threatening to blow up the William S. Moorhead Federal Building in downtown Pittsburgh on Monday.

The bomb threat was made about 5 p.m. in a call to 911, and police traced it to 60-year-old Albert Morris, Jr., of Pittsburgh.

Police evacuated the Federal Building on Liberty Avenue and blocked off several streets in the area for nearly an hour. Pittsburgh Public Safety asked people to avoid the downtown area as officers investigated.

Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to ensure there were no explosives.

According to a criminal complaint, Morris called 911 a second time and threatened the Herbert Hoover Building in Washington, D.C.

Morris was arrested at his home and admitted to making the threatening 911 calls, authorities said. He said the government owed him money.

Police searched Morris’ home and did not find any explosives, the complaint said. Investigators decided that Morris will be charged locally, but not federally, with terroristic threats and threat to use weapons of mass destruction.

“My heart dropped. I just couldn’t imagine. Like I said pretty soft spoken. Kind individual so I was shocked,” said Demi Kolke, Morris’ neighbor. 17 “I have seen his ups and downs with his mental health and it’s a time when people are really desperate. We’re in a global pandemic so I can imagine extenuating circumstances and individuals do things that they might not have thought they were capable of.”