Bomb threat to Western MD courthouse came from Eastern Shore

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A Delaware man is facing a felony charge of making a false statement regarding a bomb threat that evacuated Washington County Circuit Court in September 2025.

There is no apparent connection between the man and the local circuit court in downtown Hagerstown.

Authorities allege in charging documents that the call was made using an app registered to the defendant and connected to Wi-Fi at his girlfriend’s home north of Salisbury.

Kyle Lee Bailey, 40, of Laurel, Delaware, also faces misdemeanor charges of threatening to blow up the courthouse, making a threat of mass violence and using phone equipment for an anonymous call to abuse, according to court records.

Bailey faces up to 10 years in prison, separately, for three of the charges: the felony false statement and misdemeanor bomb threat and mass violence threat charges.

The only cases listed in Maryland case search for Bailey in Washington County courts are related to the Sept. 2, 2025, bomb threat made to the Washington County Circuit Court complex at the corner of Summit Avenue and West Washington Street in Hagerstown.

A Kyle Lee Bailey with the same birthdate, home address and driver’s license number has a drug/theft case in Wicomico County District Court on the Lower Eastern Shore, according to court documents.

The charging documents in Bailey’s Washington County bomb threat case also mention that investigators learned the father of Bailey’s girlfriend was being held without bond in the Worcester County Detention Center on the Lower Eastern Shore. Those charging documents were issued on Sept. 4, 2025.

What we know about the bomb threat

Just before 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, a person in Washington County Circuit Court received a call with the person on the line saying, “uh uh um there there’s um a bomb in the building” and then hanging up, according to charging documents filed by a state fire marshal.

The number used to call in the bomb threat was a TextNow number with a Maryland area code and a subscriber name of Kyle Bailey, according to charging documents.

TextNow provided an IP address belonging to another man who lived on Adkin Road near Salisbury. That other man’s phone number did not match the number from which the threat was made.

A deputy fire marshal assigned to the Lower Eastern Shore went to the Adkin Road address and spoke with a woman who reported she was the daughter of the man with the Adkin Road address and she was living at that address, according to court documents.

The woman allegedly told the fire marshal that her boyfriend, Kyle Bailey, came to the home around 9:30 a.m. and was connected to the home’s WiFi, according to charging documents. She confirmed that Bailey has the TextNow app.

Bailey allegedly connected to the TextNow app associated with his username from the IP address associated with the Adkin Road resident and that was assigned to a phone number that matched the number recorded with the bomb threat call, according to charging documents.

The investigation also found that the girlfriend’s father was being held without bond in the Worcester County Detention Center.

The Washington County Courthouse was searched Sept. 2 and “cleared,” meaning nothing was found, Sgt. Carly Hose, spokesperson for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, said at the time. The sheriff’s office provides security for the local circuit court.

What we know about Bailey’s drug/theft case

Bailey pleaded guilty on Dec. 11, 2025, to theft from $100 to less than $1,500 for shoplifting food from the Fruitland Walmart on Aug. 15, 2024, according to court records.

Charges of possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia were put on the stet or inactive docket. A police officer searching Bailey at the time of the theft arrest found a spoon with a brown, powdery substance that appeared to be heroin as well as hypodermic needles and other items the officer associated with drug use, according to charging documents.

For the theft conviction, Bailey was sentenced to one year and had 73 days credit for time served, according to court documents and his online case docket. He was to make $800 restitution to Walmart and stay away from the store.

Reporting by Julie E. Greene, The Herald-Mail / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.