LCPS: Substance at Lovettsville ES Deemed Harmless

Lovettsville Elementary School students returned to their classes after an evacuation that lasted about an hour and a half as public safety personnel inspected a suspicious substance inside a package delivered to the school. The substance was deemed harmless.

“It’s just a precaution we take because of the climate we’re in,” said Loudoun County Public Schools spokesman Wayde Byard explaining the reason for the evacuation.

Students were back inside in time for lunch, Byard said, after being outside for about 90 minutes.

Members of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and personnel from Loudoun County Fire, Rescue & Emergency Management responded to the scene, deemed the material was harmless and were leaving the scene by 11 a.m.
Byard said a teacher had a package delivered that caused the stir.

“Something happened in the shipping. Something congealed inside that looked like powder,” he said. “We analyzed it twice. It is absolutely harmless.”

The suspicious material was reported just before 9 a.m. after school personnel opened a package.

"Staff was in the process of opening an expected package containing magazines, when a powder-like substance fell out of the package," according to a press release from Loudoun Fire, Rescue & Emergency Management. "Fire-rescue personnel determined that the powder-like substance was a byproduct of shrink wrapping and no hazard was present."