Suspicious packages at Gwinnett mall jewelry store not a bomb

By Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Police determined a suspicious package left  outside a Gwinnett Place Mall jewelry store on Tuesday afternoon was not a bomb.

Pleasant Hill Road, and Satellite and Mall boulevards were reopened Tuesday evening after being closed for nearly five hours due to the bomb threat.

Employees at Jared Galleria of Jewelry store at 2150 Pleasant Hill told police they saw a man leave two separate containers outside the store entrance, police said.

The business was evacuated, and aforementioned roads were closed while police explosives experts and a fire department HAZ-MAT team was called in to investigate. The teams used a robot to retrieve the containers, and after analysis, the substance inside was deemed harmless, Gwinnett County police spokesman Officer Brian Kelly said.

Investigators kept a sample of the substance for further evaluation, andthe substance was safely disposed, Kelly said.

Investigation continues to identify the person responsible for leaving the canisters, police said.

Pleasant Hill Road, Mall Boulevard and Satellite Boulevard are shut down because of two suspicious cannisters that were left outside a jewelry store at that intersection, Gwinnett County police spokesman Officer Brian Kelly said.

Pleasant Hill road leads from I-85, where a significant amount of traffic passes during rush hour.

Gwinnett police were called to the scene around 2:40 p.m., when Kelly said a man dropped off the cannisters and drove away.

The police bomb squad is on the scene, and are using a robot to retrieve the cannisters, he said.