Federal Building Scare Prompted by Science Experiment Materials

An all-clear has been issued following the discovery of a suspicious package at Tampa’s 500 E. Zack St. federal building.

The call about the package came in at 2 p.m., the Tampa Police Department wrote in an email to media.

The all-clear came around 3:30 p.m. after the department’s bomb squad was able to examine the package and determine it contained no explosives or hazardous materials, police wrote.

“Until they made that determination, in an abundance of caution, several downtown streets were sealed off, and the building was evacuated,” the email explained.

As it turned out, the package wasn’t even intended for delivery to the federal building, police said. It was meant to go to a nearby address. Even so, all packages that enter the building are subject to X-ray. It was that process that set off red flags.

Police did find the person the package was supposed to be delivered to.

“The intended recipient of the package told authorities that it contained materials to be used in a science experiment,” the email said.

It’s unclear what type of experiment.

The false alarm came one day after a lone gunman killed four Marines in Chattanooga, Tenn., in what is being investigated as a possible domestic terrorist attack. Several people were also wounded and the gunman, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, was killed, as well.

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