All-clear sounded at The Temple as suspicious package is determined harmless

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Peachtree Street was reopened Friday morning after the Atlanta police bomb squad determined that a "suspicious package" found outside The Temple synagogue was harmless.

"It was a black plastic bag with newspapers inside," Atlanta police spokesman Eric Schwartz said.

The package caused some tense moments outside the synagogue just south of the Brookwood Amtrak station.

Atlanta fire Capt. Rick Perdue said a caretaker at The Temple discovered the package about 6:15 a.m. and notified police.

The left lanes of Peachtree Street on each side were blocked by seven firetrucks and three police cars, and the heavily traveled thoroughfare was shut down completely in both directions between Deering Road and Spring Street shortly after 8 a.m.

Peachtree Street was reopened to traffic just before 9 a.m.

The Temple, which was founded in 1867, is Atlanta's oldest synagogue.

On Oct. 12, 1958, a dynamite blast blew a hole in the side of The Temple. No one was injured in the early morning blast.

Authorities suspected five men were responsible for the bombing, but only one stood trial, and he was acquitted.