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PA Woman Threatened To 'Blow Up' Courthouse, Assassinate Judge: DA

A 43-year-old woman is accused of making over 100 phony 911 calls and issuing more than a dozen threats to authorities involving bombs and assassinations, say prosecutors. 

Bucks County Magisterial District Court in Bristol; Valerie Joy Travis

Bucks County Magisterial District Court in Bristol; Valerie Joy Travis

Photo Credit: Google Maps (Street View)/Inset: Bucks DA

Valerie Joy Travis is charged with multiple felony counts of terroristic threats and related charges, said the District Attorney's Office on Monday, Aug. 14. 

Investigators said that over a nine-month period, county dispatchers received 116 emergency phone calls from a number linked to Travis. None of the reported incidents were real, but each of them "required action by the Department of Emergency Communications and law enforcement," the DA said. 

On 13 different occasions, detectives say the 43-year-old directly threatened mass shootings and bombings at public buildings and events. The list of targets, according to the affidavit of probable cause, included: 

  • Philadelphia City Hall
  • The Del-Val Motel in Bristol Twp. 
  • Area LGBTQ Pride events
  • The Village Lodge Motel in Bristol 
  • Bucks Magisterial District Courts in Morrisville, Bensalem, and Bristol 

In one instance on May 30, authorities said Travis sent a text message to 911 operators threatening to bomb the "courthouse on Bath Road (...) in honor of (...) Patricia Travis."

Patricia Travis, the Bensalem resident's mother, was in court that day for an eviction-related matter, prosecutors noted. When the threat caused authorities to evacuate the courthouse, her eviction hearing was postponed to a later date, police said. 

In another incident on Aug. 1, authorities said they received an anonymous tip via Crimewatch that a Latin Kings gang member had paid another person to "smoke" Judge Joseph P. Falcon. 

Authorities said they tracked the Crimewatch tip to an IP address used by Valerie Joy Travis at her Bensalem residence. 

She was taken into custody Monday and arraigned, where bail was set at 10 percent of $750,000, according to state court records. Travis is scheduled to appear for her preliminary hearing on Aug. 22. 

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