Eugene Police Special Investigations took on the case of bomb threats at Walmart and Target that were phoned in around the end of April and beginning week of May and has made an arrest. The threats impacted shoppers and led to evacuations and subsequent loss of sales for the store, as well as disruption and fear. The suspect, Matthew Luke Fernandez, age 36, made at least one of the calls from inside the store.
EPD SIU investigated the series of calls and identified Fernandez as a suspect. They arrested him at his residence on May 21. Fernandez was transported to Lane County Jail on charges including three counts of Improper Use of 911, three counts of Disorderly Conduct in the First Degree, and a fugitive from justice charge related to his outstanding felony warrant in Colorado. During the investigation, detectives discovered multiple calls made to 911 by Fernandez in April and in early May, including false reports of shootings. Case 24-06100
The series of bomb threats began at 6:38 p.m. on April 29 when Eugene Police got a call of a threat at Walmart, 4550 W 11th Avenue. The threat was unfounded. Then, at 9:52 p.m. on May 2, another call came in with a Walmart bomb threat and an officer was already in the area, having already dealt with a bomb threat made for Target, also on W.11th. That call had come in around 8:45 p.m. and was unfounded. As a precaution in these cases, the stores evacuated, and officers conducted searches.
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