http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/04/2...eut/index.html
Uncorroborated threat on L.A. malls
Thursday, April 29, 2004 Posted: 12:24 PM EDT (1624 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Security was beefed up on Thursday at several malls and shopping centers near the Los Angeles Federal Building after police said they had been told one of them could be targeted for a "terrorist" attack.
Police said extra patrols are on duty at the malls near the Federal Building on the city's west side and that shoppers were asked to exercise caution and watch for suspicious activity.
A police statement said: "Recently, federal officials received an unsubstantiated potential threat, which indicated an attack would take place at a shopping mall in the general vicinity of the Federal Building in the West Los Angeles area.
No specific mall was named. The information indicated the attack would occur on April 29, 2004."
"The information is uncorroborated and the credibility of the source is unknown," the statement said.
The information was under investigation by the Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Force, which was formed by federal and local officials after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
John Miller, the Los Angeles Police Department's counterterrorism chief, told the Los Angeles Times the threat was not the kind to which authorities attached any more credibility than to any other anonymous call.
"But because it mentioned a specific kind of target on a specific day, we felt compelled to share it with the public," he said.
An FBI official in Washington said there have been 4,000 similar threats received in the United States since last year.
Officials said the information had been received by federal officials and had been passed on to state and local authorities.
Through a spokeswoman, Mayor Jim Hahn urged "all Los Angeles residents to go on with their daily lives while remaining vigilant and alert."
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