NEWS
Bomb squad clears suspicious package
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Also by Alec Luhn:
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by Alec Luhn
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
A suspicious object found late Monday night in a downtown parking ramp was likely a wind chime or similar-looking object and not a bomb, according to Madison police.
Police evacuated the ramp and closed off streets in a one-block radius around the structure within minutes of a 10:57 p.m. report of a possible bomb, according to Madison Police Department Lt. Melissa Schiferl. Around 11:15 p.m., officers called in the Dane County bomb squad, which determined the object was not an explosive, Schiferl said.
"From [20 feet away], it appeared that it could be a pipe bomb," Schiferl said. "As you got closer, you would recognize that it wasn’t."
A Dane County Sheriff’s Department deputy discovered the object while walking to his vehicle on the third floor of the Dane County Parking Ramp at 113 S. Henry Street shortly before 11 p.m., according to police.
The 13 officers who responded were unable to locate a parking ramp attendant, and police don’t believe anyone else was in the ramp, Schiferl said. Police re-opened the area shortly after 1 a.m.
A pipe bomb exploded and damaged a car in the same ramp on Dec. 24, 2005, after two other pipe bombs were neutralized by a bomb squad there in November 2005. Investigation of the events is still ongoing, but ramp users have become more vigilant, according to Schiferl.
"Now they realize something suspicious could turn out to be dangerous and report it immediately," she said.
Schiferl commended Monday’s initial response of city and county officers, who aren’t equipped to deal with potential explosives.
"They handled it as they’ve been trained to do … to do any evacuation as best they can without putting themselves in danger," she said.
Schiferl urged residents to contact police if they notice "anything out of place."
Citizens can contact Crimestoppers at 608-266-6014 with any information.
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