Bomb Squad Responds to Suspicious Package at Police Headquarters
Deemed Harmless After Hours of Investigation
A suspicious package with “cryptic writing” on it led to the bomb squad responding to the Santa Barbara Police Department Saturday afternoon, but the package was later found to be harmless.
Police discovered the parcel at around 12:30 p.m. next to the east entrance of the Figueroa Street headquarters. With what a spokesman called “cryptic writing” on the outside and no way to identify what was inside, the county’s bomb squad was called out.
The station remained open while the bomb squad investigated, and three-and-a-half hours later it was determined the package contained only an assortment of personal items.
As this was unfolding, according to police, one of the residents of a nearby home told police he saw an approximately 50-year-old female leave the package at the entrance, though she made no attempt to contact police. She had been acting strangely, the witness said.
