Staff and visitors were evacuated from the Thurston County's Courthouse Campus Thursday morning after a suspicious package was discovered.
The evacuation occurred around 11 a.m. and drew a response from the Thurston County Sheriff's Office and the Olympia Police Department, county spokesperson Meghan Porter told The Olympian. The campus is in west Olympia on Lakeridge Drive Southwest.
Lt. Cameron Simper with the Sheriff's Office described the package as a briefcase with a wire hanging out. He said a security officer located it in a courtyard and called Olympia police.
A Washington State Patrol bomb squad was contacted to evaluate the briefcase "out of an abundance of caution," Simper said.
The squad determined the briefcase was not an explosive device, according to a Sheriff's Office update. The campus reopened at about 1 p.m.
County Manager Ramiro Chavez abruptly ended a budget work session around 11 a.m. to announce the evacuation to the Board of County Commissioners.
"There's a suspicious package here with wires coming out, so we need to evacuate," Chavez said just before the livestream of the meeting cut off.
The meeting resumed after the situation was resolved. As they restarted the meeting, Commissioner and Board Chair Carolina Mejia thanked law enforcement for securing the campus.
"Thank you for getting us through this process and thank you for all you do," Mejia said.
