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Suspicious package “not a threat”

By Christine Anne Piesyk | August 14, 2007 |

Clarksville Police Department and the Commerce Street re-opened early this morning after HazMat teams from Fort Campbell determined that a suspicious package brought into the station was not the hazardous material initially suspected.

According to Mayor Johnny Piper, a a man brought an unknown substance into the station around 7:30 p.m. Monday evening, possibly a biological contaminant, resulting in the immediate lockdown of the building and a massive emergency response to the scene.

FBI agents and the Fort Campbell HazMat team examined the package, determined it was not a dangerous substance, and clear the building to reopened at approximately 12:30 a.m., five hours after the initial event occurred. No arrests were made in this case. In a similar occurence, a package was found at Fort Campbell and also determined not to be a threat.

Sandy Shirley, a Clarksville resident who was scheduled to do a citizen ride-along with police last night, was caught up in the events and held in lockdown along with thirteen others in station at that time.

“They (officials) came in after midnight and said it was okay for us to leave,” Shirley said. She was examined by EMS crews, who checked her oxygen levels and blood pressure before releasing her. Shirley watched the emergency response unfold from the vantage point of the front entrance. She was quarantined in a small entryway between the front doors and the entrance to the police station lobby.

No arrests have been made in this case. Shirley will return to the police station this evening for another attempt at completing her ride-along.

About Christine Anne Piesyk

With 40 years behind me (Huh? What? How did that happen?) as a journalist, feature writer, investigative reporter, editor, and film/theater/arts critic, I brought my liberal New England activism to Tennessee several years ago. having completed a midlife undergraduate degree in community organizing and women's studies, and an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts. I am currently an MFA student at Goddard College. I served on Future Search Commissions for two colleges and an issue-specific commission for the City of Northampton, MA, and did minor undergraduate work in studies in urban planning and community development. I am a community volunteer and a member of FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties. I am a certified storm spotter. In my spare time (define spare time please?) I am a voracious reader, obsessive movie buff, classical music junkie; I also and design and make sci-fi/fantasy and renaissance costumes. I have an unquenchable interest in just about everything. I see life as an ongoing opportunity for learning and adventure, with the best things still to come. All posts by Christine Anne Piesyk as presented on Clarksville Online are copyright ©2006, 2007 to the author.

Email: womanspeak@yahoo.com