Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Philadelphia City Hall was evacuated and City Council was abruptly adjourned on Thursday after sheriff\u2019s deputies alerted officials to a suspicious package in Council, Council President Kenyatta Johnson<\/a> said. <\/p>\n Johnson told The Inquirer at about 11:45 a.m. that sheriff\u2019s deputies were investigating the package found on the floor where Council members were holding their first meeting of the fall session<\/a>. A bomb squad was called, and dogs signaled an alert on the package, he said. <\/p>\n Police said the package was examined and determined not to contain a device, and the scene was cleared. No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n All 17 Council members, their staffers, journalists, and members of the public were evacuated from the building. Managing Director Carlton Williams said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker<\/a> is safe and that she was not in the building when the package was discovered.<\/p>\n People who evacuated were permitted to reenter City Hall shortly before 1 p.m. Council was scheduled to reconvene shortly after, according to Vincent Thompson, a spokesperson for Johnson.<\/p>\n Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore told reporters at the scene that no one was charged in connection with the incident.<\/p>\n Vanore said two police dogs alerted officers to something suspicious in the bag, but he said it\u2019s possible nothing nefarious occurred. The bag, he said, could have had residue from a firearm or fireworks that had been in it within the past several days.<\/p>\n As chambers were being evacuated, officers detained and removed a government employee. The employee spoke to a reporter while in handcuffs. <\/p>\n He said he believed it was his package that was at the center of the ordeal. <\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s my bag that I left on the chair,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n He said it was not a bomb.<\/p>\n Outside City Hall, members of Council and government employees milled about, many calmly speculating on the origin of the threat or lack thereof.<\/p>\n