Kamloops Mounties are appealing to the public to avoid the downtown Law Courts Building next to Royal Inland Hospital as they and others investigate an unspecified threat.

“Police along with BC Sheriff Service and first responders are asking the public to please avoid the 400 block of Columbia Street and allow responders space to work,” stated Kamloops RCMP in a release put out shortly after noon on Monday.

Mounties say the threat came in shortly before 9:30am, which is when the courts are normally set to open for the day.

No word on what type of threat may have been issued.

However, the RCMP say the courthouse was evacuated and that they are investigating the source and legitimacy of the threat.

“While responders are on scene, we are asking the public to please avoid the area while we investigate and collaborate with the BC Sheriff Service,” states Corporal Dana Napier, spokesperson for the Kamloops RCMP Detachment.

While not an everyday occurrence, threats made against Law Courts are not that uncommon, as those who have issued threats against the Courts are generally tracked down by either the RCMP or the BC Sheriffs’ Service,

with the threats often meant to disrupt the proceedings in the suspects’ own cases — often giving investigators a good starting point to begin tracking who might have made the threat.