MURFREESBORO, TN (WGNS) - North Highland Avenue, right in front of the Murfreesboro Police Department, was unusually quiet and blocked off before sunrise Tuesday. Around 3:58 a.m., dispatchers received a 911 call claiming a bomb had been placed inside the police headquarters. Within minutes, the area was shut down as officers moved quickly to secure the building and surrounding streets.
What unfolded next was a coordinated response that stretched across agencies. Investigators were able to trace the call not to Murfreesboro, not even to Tennessee, but to a nail salon in Columbus, Ohio. That discovery shifted the tone of the morning, but it didn’t lessen the urgency of the search.
K9 units from Middle Tennessee State University Police and the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office were brought in to sweep the massive 135,600‑square‑foot facility. Teams worked methodically, checking both the interior and exterior of the building. After a thorough search, no explosive device was found.
By sunrise, the immediate threat had passed, and the roadway was reopened. Still, the investigation is far from over. Detectives are now working to determine who made the call, why it originated from an Ohio business, and whether the threat was part of a larger pattern or simply a dangerous hoax.
For now, Murfreesboro Police are reassuring the community that there is no ongoing danger, but they’re taking the incident seriously. As more details emerge, they’ll be released to the public.

