Deputies: SC inmate called in bomb threat during Murdaugh trial

COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office says a man is being charged after a bomb threat was called in to the courthouse earlier this month.

Deputies say Joey Coleman, 32, who is currently in custody at the Ridgeland Correctional Institute, called the Colleton County courthouse around 12 p.m. on Feb. 8. Coleman reportedly told courthouse personnel there was a “bomb in the judge’s chamber.”

People in the courtroom for the Murdaugh murder trial were evacuated shortly after the call.

Agents with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and detectives with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office worked to identify the anonymous caller, the sheriff’s office said. The SLED Bomb Squad searched the courthouse, and no threats or devices were located.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office says no connection has been identified between Coleman and Murdaugh or the trial.

Coleman faces felony charges for the phone call bomb threat.

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