The Brief
Dallas police cordoned off a section of downtown Tuesday to investigate a suspicious SUV parked near the West End district.
The bomb squad used a controlled charge to open the vehicle’s rear gate and recovered a sword from inside.
An all-clear was issued at 1:30 p.m., ending a campus lockdown and reopening local roads, though the investigation is ongoing.
DALLAS – Dallas police have given the all-clear after a suspicious package investigation involving a vehicle at a busy downtown intersection triggered a campus lockdown and significant traffic delays on Tuesday afternoon.
Suspicious package in Downtown Dallas
What we know
At approximately 12:00 p.m. on April 7, 2026, officers responded to the intersection of Lamar and Elm streets following reports of a suspicious package. The preliminary investigation revealed a vehicle parked in the middle of the road with a suspicious item visible inside.
The Dallas Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was called to the scene in the 900 block of Pacific Avenue, near the historic West End district. Out of an abundance of caution, the nearby Dallas College El Centro campus was placed on lockdown due to its proximity to the investigation.
During the operation, the bomb squad used a controlled charge to open the rear lift of the SUV. Once the vehicle was breached, investigators pulled a sword out of the interior.
By 1:30 p.m., the car and the package were cleared of any hazards, and no threat to the public was found. All roadways have since been reopened.
65-year-old William Hemphill was arrested and taken into custody following the incident. He faces charges related to obstructing the roadway.
Police stated that the investigation remains ongoing.
What they’re saying
Shaleya Jewell works downtown and happened to be nearby as officers arrived on scene.
“They’re really strict about parking down here, so no it’s not an unusual spot and it was right kind of in the walkway. And so we had to kind of go around it,” she said. “We just know when we walked past they had no idea what was going on with the vehicle. We saw it was in a weird spot and all of the windows were down and they were really trying to keep everyone away from it.”
The Source
Information in this article is from the Dallas Police Department.