Authorities gave the all-clear at the DeKalb County Courthouse on Thursday afternoon after a report of a possible explosive device inside the building caused evacuations.
No such device was found when 60 officers from multiple agencies swept the courthouse in downtown Decatur, according to the DeKalb sheriff’s office.
The courthouse was evacuated out of an abundance of caution while DeKalb and Decatur police searched the building, the sheriff’s office said. Agents from the U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security aided in the search.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
Police also shut down West Trinity Place between Commerce Drive and Church Street, as well as North McDonough Street between West Howard Avenue and West Trinity Place. The roads were reopened and police began allowing people back into the courthouse about 2 p.m.
On Wednesday, a Gwinnett County man was arrested at the courthouse after he was accused of trying to enter the building with a loaded pistol. Marcus Payton, 27, of Lawrenceville, was taken into custody when he sent his backpack through the X-ray machine at the security checkpoint with a Glock 45 inside, according to the DeKalb sheriff’s office.
Authorities did not say why Payton was trying to enter the building with a gun. He was being held in the DeKalb jail without bond on a charge of carrying a weapon in an unauthorized location.
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