Shopping center near Pentagon given 'all-clear' over bomb threat: police

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arlington County Police said in a tweet on Friday they gave the "all-clear" to a shopping center near the headquarters of the U.S. Defense Department, with business returning to normal and roads re-opening after bomb-sniffing dogs inspected the area. The stores had been evacuated after an anonymous bomb threat was made to the center on Friday afternoon, Arlington County Police Department spokesman Lt. Kip Malcolm said. Some roads in the area had also been closed, the police department said, while the entrance to the Metrorail station near the shopping center was closed, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The retail area, known as the Pentagon Centre, is located at 1201 South Hayes Street, less than a mile from the Pentagon. Malcolm said the shopping center's management received a phone call shortly before 12:20 p.m. EDT and made the decision to evacuate. He said canine units from multiple jurisdictions were brought in to participate in the sweep. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Emily Stephenson; editing by Will Dunham and Dan Grebler)