Sheriff's Bomb Squad Investigates At Murrieta Shopping Center

MURRIETA, CA — Murrieta police along with deputies from the sheriff's bomb squad team were investigating a suspicious device found in Murrieta Tuesday, but the item turned out to be harmless.

Police responded to the 41000 block of California Oaks Road around 2:30 p.m. The address is the location of the Albertsons and Target shopping center, just east of Interstate 15.

Riverside County Sheriff's Bomb Squad investigators focused on an area in the shopping center parking lot where a small device, about the size of a softball, was making a beeping noise.

The bomb squad's explosive detection robot was used to x-ray the item, which was eventually determined to be non-explosive and posed no danger. Witnesses reported the device sounded like an alarm of some sort.

While a large portion of the shopping center was cordoned off with police tape during the incident, no businesses were closed.

Just before 4 p.m., the area was deemed safe and the police tape was removed.