‘Suspicious Packages’ Found At Essex County Target Declared Safe: Police

FAIRFIELD, NJ — Authorities have declared a pair of “suspicious packages” found in the Fairfield Target parking lot Tuesday morning to be safe, police say.

Fairfield police responded to the Target on Route 46 East around 10:09 a.m. on a report of two suspicious packages found in the store’s parking lot.

An Essex County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad later determined that the packages were “safe” and the store and lot were reopened, police said.

The incident comes on the heels of three bomb-related episodes in New Jersey and New York over the weekend. On Saturday, a possible pipe bomb explosion in the boardwalk area of Seaside Park forced the evacuation of a charity 5K race that was expected to draw 3,000 people, many of them veterans of the armed services, authorities said.

• See related article: Pipe Bomb Explodes Along 5K Seaside Park Racecourse on Jersey Shore

On Saturday night, a street-corner explosion that law enforcement sources said was caused by an intentionally detonated improvised device in the busy Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan sent shrapnel flying into pedestrians Saturday night, injuring at least 29 people.

• See related article: Chelsea Explosion Latest: 29 Injured in New York City Blast

On Sunday evening, five explosive devices were found in a backpack at the train station in Elizabeth. The devices were in the process of being made safe when they exploded, according to sources who say they appeared to have been similar to the devices discovered in Seaside on Saturday.

• See related article: Explosive Devices Found at Elizabeth Station Delaying Amtrak, NJ Transit
• See related article: Manhunt For NJ Man Connected With Chelsea Bombing After 5 Bombs Found Near Elizabeth Train Station

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