BPS: Suspicious package not a bomb, streets reopened

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WALB) - A bomb threat was called in around 1 p.m. in Bainbridge, according to Bainbridge Public Safety (BPS).

A package in a standard blue mail receptacle outside of the courthouse on Water and West streets was suspicious.

The package was reported by the United States Postal Service to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and the GBI notified BPS Deputy Director Frank Green, according to Bainbridge officials.

Once notified, officers immediately responded to the downtown area where the package was reported. Businesses a block in each direction from the courthouse were evacuated, according to BPS.

The GBI used a robot to retrieve the suspected bomb from the mail receptacle and it was detonated within the controlled environment.

2:10pm UPDATE - A GBI REMOTEC Robot is being used to retrieve the suspicious package from the mailbox. It will be detonated within a controlled environment by the GBI. It's contents will then be analyzed.
Posted by Bainbridge Public Safety on Thursday, August 1, 2019

After the detonation, remnants of the package were scattered across the street, according to a press release.

BPS investigators then began marking and analyzing the pieces and determined the package was not an explosive device, Bainbridge officials told WALB.

Investigators analyzing package fragments after a suspicious package was found in Bainbridge.

Around 2:30 p.m., the roadways were reopened to the public, according to Bainbridge officials.

4:30PM UPDATE ON BOMB THREAT IN DOWNTOWN BAINBRIDGE: This afternoon around 1pm, a U.S. Postal Service employee...
Posted by Bainbridge Public Safety on Thursday, August 1, 2019

No one was injured.

Anyone who may have seen a person or persons lingering around the mail receptacle located at West and Water streets within the 48 hour window before the incident is asked to call Bainbridge Public Safety investigators Nix, Jordan or Funderburke at (229) 248-2038. You can also submit an anonymous tip.

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