Suspicious package closes Wabash, MO station Friday morning

[Ian David]

A bomb threat left the 100 block of North Tenth Street between Walnut and Ash streets closed Friday morning for about 45 minutes while authorities investigated what was rumored to be a “suspicious package” inside the Wabash Bus Station.

Dispatcher Jonathan Williams of Columbia Transit made the call to 911 and all of the occupants of the station were evacuated at 10:50 a.m.

Several Columbia Transit employees and displaced passengers waited outside police lines while officers from Columbia Fire Department and Columbia Police Department investigated the situation.

Before they went inside, emergency workers spoke with people who had been in the station when the call was made. They concluded that there was not a dangerous package in the station, said Capt. James Weaver of the Columbia Fire Department.

“An employee went into the public restroom and saw a suspicious package (in the trash can),” said Mark Grindstaff, Public Works supervisor with Columbia Transit. “They said the package was making some sort of noise. The employee notified the dispatcher and supervisor and they called the police.”

A release from the Columbia Public Works Department said the ticking noise was coming from a battery-operated air freshener in the trash can.

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