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Bomb scare for BLM a false alarm |
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Monday, 10 March 2008 |
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By Mike Gervais
Register Staff 3-8-2008
A suspicious parcel sent to the Bishop office of the Bureau of Land Management sparked a bomb scare Wednesday that fortunately turned out to be a false alarm.
and told us to handle it,” said Inyo County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Steve Rogers. Special agents from the BLM were also appraised of the situation, but they too declined to respond.
The Sheriff’s Department bomb expert took possession of the parcel and concluded that there could potentially be an explosive device concealed within.
“It was a suspicious package, so we weren’t going to just open it,” Rogers said.
The EOD responded to the BLM Office and transported the suspect parcel to a vacant field southeast of the Interagency Building on Pacu Lane in Bishop.
The Bishop Volunteer Fire Department and Symons Ambulance personnel stood by as a plastic explosive charge was used to open the envelope. The California Highway Patrol closed West Line Street to traffic for about five minutes as the EOD detonated its charge to open the package.
The explosion caused little damage to the envelope’s contents, which, according to the Sheriff’s Department, was “religious propaganda” and another envelope containing a CD
“As it ended up, there was nothing criminal” going on, Rogers said, although the Sheriff’s Department is continuing an investigation into the religious group that sent the parcel.
“Everyone has a protocol for suspicious packages,” Rogers said, conveying the sentiment that it is better to be safe and handle the situation as if it were a worst-case scenario, than to get caught off guard.
The incident caused little disruption to operations at the Interagency building, which houses both the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service.
According to Dunkelberger, by the time the letter was scrutinized, most of the staff in the Interagency Building had gone home for the day. “We really can’t comment further on anything right now because this is an open investigation,” he said.
The BLM manager did add that if the investigation results in further findings the public will be notified.
Authorities are not releasing specific details regarding the contents of the CD, or identifying the religious group who sent the package, as there was nothing criminal contained within. Rogers said the Sheriff’s Department investigation is still ongoing. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 11 April 2008 )
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