Originally Posted by
tev9999
The NW253 paranoia continues to spread, now to courthouses.
"Johnson said the origin of the package has been determined. He said an unidentified woman embarrassingly told police she was smoking a cigarette near the window and mistakenly left the envelope there, touching off the scare.
Johnson said the woman was very apologetic.
The bomb squad left the scene."
Well, I don't know what the envelope looked like, and I don't know how much explosive material you could get inside one. But years before 9/11, and years before Oklahoma City (which is where heightened security at courthouses comes from) I drove to work quite early one morning, only to discover that I had left my key to the building at home. So I drove home to get it; and on returning in about an hour strode up to the building. As I did so, I noticed that I had left my briefcase by the door. As I picked it up, a police officer approached me and asked, "Is that yours?" When I replied in the affirmative, he asked, "Does this mean we can tell the bomb squad to go back to bed?"
So maybe this kind of caution is not a totally new thing.
Oh...and I, too, was very apologetic.