Suspicious bag found in hand of Jimmy Carter statue

Officials are investigating what was inside a bag placed in the right hand of former President Jimmy Carter’s statue at the Georgia Capitol on Monday morning.

“There’s no immediate danger right now to anyone,” Atlanta fire Sgt. Cortez Stafford said earlier as the Capitol was reopened.

Officials got a call about suspicious items on the grounds about 5 a.m., he said.

“Upon further investigation, it was determined that there were a number of items around the Capitol and on its grounds that should not be there,” Stafford said.

Channel 2 Action News reported a small bag was found sitting in the hand of Carter’s statue. Several other bags were found around the Capitol, the television station reported.

An Atlanta bomb squad and a hazmat team were called to the scene.

Officials said no notes were left, and that a motive has not been determined, Channel 2 reported.

A bomb squad responded to a suspicious substance investigation. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

For hours, the Capitol and multiple roads around it were closed, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

The Georgia Capitol is taped off due to a suspicious package investigation. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

When the Capitol reopened shortly before 9 a.m., police funneled lawmakers, lobbyists, reporters and visitors through a few entrances. Outside, police tape cordoned off the sidewalk along part of Capitol Avenue and police vehicles closed the westbound lanes of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Piedmont.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle arrived in his reserved parking space alongside the Capitol and bounded up the steps, pulling aside the police tape to enter a closed entrance on the Capitol's second floor, his security detail right behind him.

Inside, police and a bomb-sniffing dog swept the House and Senate chambers as the business of the Capitol began to build as usual.

The House and Senate convened for Day 32 of the legislative session at 10 a.m.

An 8 a.m. meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where members were to consider the $25 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year, was postponed.