Calls from security guards about a suspicious package led to the evacuation of a major Silver Spring shopping district for hours and frustrated commuters on Thursday evening.
Police said the mysterious bag ended up being nothing more than a nearly empty suitcase, which the bomb squad later exploded in a controlled detonation as a precaution.
But before authorities had determined there was no bomb, hundreds of shoppers and store workers were forced to flee the area.
About 5 p.m., the City Place shopping mall in Silver Spring was evacuated, as was a strip of retail stores along Ellsworth Drive between Fenton Street and Georgia Avenue after a guard watching the feed from a surveillance camera spotted a man leaving a large suitcase on a sidewalk along Ellsworth Drive.
Officials said the tipster guard indicated the man was engaging in suspicious activities such as returning to the suitcase several times to check its contents. The guard contacted Montgomery County police, which, in turn, contacted the county fire department’s bomb squad to investigate the situation.
“He actually came back and fiddled with it a bit and left it,” said Pete Piringer, spokesman for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue.
Bomb squad members ordered the area evacuated immediately.
The manager of a restaurant just off Ellsworth Avenue said that officials ordered everyone in his establishment – staff and diners included – to evacuate. No one was allowed back in until 7 p.m.
About 6:30 p.m., the bomb squad sent in a remote-controlled robot to examine the suitcase.
“It’s one of those situations where there was no associated threat and unusual activity,” Piringer said.
Fire officials said there was no sign of a bomb but detonated the piece of luggage anyway as a precaution.
Vaughn Willis, who was headed to an office holiday party at Galaxy Billiards Cafe when the explosion occurred, said the explosion left him startled.
“You always wonder – ‘Is that a bomb?’ There were police in the area. They did a good job at calming us all. We felt like the situation was under control.”
Staff writers Courtney Mabeus and Whitney Blake contributed to this report.
