A man puts on a bomb suit outside of 202 W. Fourth St. where a suspicious package was found. Lehigh University Police Department and Bethlehem Police Department are working in tandem at the scene. (Roshan Giyanani/B&W Staff)
A suspicious package was found at the office of Magisterial District Justice Nancy Matos-Gonzalez on 202 W. Fourth St., according to a safety bulletin email sent around 4:15 p.m. by Lehigh University Police Department chief Edward Shupp.
At 5 p.m., Shupp sent a follow-up email saying the package was found not to be a threat by the Bethlehem Police Department bomb squad and the LUPD.
Both LUPD and the BPD were on the scene helping with the situation. A man in a bomb suit entered the building at around 4:30 p.m. and exited about five minutes later.
About 10 minutes later, the man walked back into the building with the suit and came out holding a manila envelope. The man cut open the envelope, and shortly later it was deemed not a threat.
More than a half hour before the first email was sent, police were blocking off parts of roads in the South Side, including Packer Avenue, Brodhead Avenue and Birkel Street down by the Brodhead parking lot. South Side Ambassadors were helping direct traffic at the intersection of East Morton Street and South New Street. The area has now been reopened.
LUPD and BPD were not able to provide any more information at this time.
Both @LehighPD @BethlehemPolice are blocking off/directing traffic on several roads: Packer Ave, E. Morton Street, Brodhead Ave near Birkel. pic.twitter.com/2srlmVuEI2
— The Brown and White (@LUBrownWhite) October 13, 2016
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