There was a major scare in the City of Erie on Tuesday. A possible bomb threat kept police officers busy for hours as they investigated the situation.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there is no threat to the public and no explosive devices were found.
One man is in custody after posing a community safety threat, causing a bomb squad investigation and a school to be evacuated.
Around 7:45 Tuesday morning, City of Erie police received calls about a man acting “erratically” and waving a gun around on West 38th Street near Panos Restaurant.
With witnesses’ descriptions, police were able to spot the vehicle a short time later on East 38th Street and officers pulled him over.
“One of our K9 units, during the search of the exterior of the vehicle that K9 hit on the vehicle. This K9 is trained for explosive devices as well as firearms,” said Rick Lorah, chief of police for the City of Erie.
Officers said they saw suspicious packaging and wiring in the car and knew the suspect’s history, so after the K9 alerted, they called in the bomb squad.
“Out of an abundance of caution, our officers worked on that vehicle, X-rayed multiple packages,” Chief Loarah explained. “The necessary precautions were made in this case to take a look at those and treat this as a possible bomb threat.”
East 38th Street, right in front of JoAnna Connell Elementary School, was blocked off from Marion Street to Conrad Road for hours.
Workers from surrounding businesses in the plaza were told to evacuate and JoAnna Connell initiated a secure status.
Public works trucks were placed in front of the red car to act as a barrier in front of the school.
Around 11:40, all the students were taken by district buses to Wilson Middle School for safety.
JoAnna Connell wasn’t the only school that took precautionary measures. St. Luke School went into a soft lockdown until dismissal.
By 1:30 in the afternoon, East 38th Street opened back up to traffic as there were no explosive devices found.
Chief Lorah said one of the suspicious items was an old cell phone with a wire that went into a bag.
“We brought that individual down, were able to look at some prior history, some other calls that we had with him. We also were able to speak to him; he spoke to us down at the station. With the talk that we had, that the prior history he has, we took a look at that car,” he went on to say.
The suspect has not been charged or arraigned and police continue to investigate.