Suspicious package causes shutdown of Post Office, surrounding streets

Mar 17, 2016

bombscare1 — Post Office employees wait across the street after their a ticking package was reported. Photo by Raquel Hendrickson

A ticking package caused the Maricopa Post Office to be evacuated and Hathaway Avenue to be shut down this morning.

Maricopa Police Department received a call around 9:15 a.m.

“It was from a customer at the Post Office who said that when they were going in they heard something ticking inside of the trash can outside the post office,” MPD spokesman Ricardo Alvarado said. “So one of the workers came out and verified there was a package that’s ticking, a large package covered in what they said was a black package.”

MPD soon received a call from the postmaster general in Washington, D.C. The shut down the Post Office, and the streets from State Route 347 to Wilson were blocked. At least eight MPD units are on scene.

MPD is now waiting for the Department of Public Safety bomb squad from Phoenix, which may take a couple of hours, according to Alvarado.

He said nearby businesses were given the choice of evacuating or not.

Bomb Scare at PO

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