No bomb at Atlantic Station; backpack contained personal items
Police locked down Atlantic Station and ordered everyone out of a bank building there after someone spotted a backpack locked to a table Friday afternoon.
By Friday evening, the lock down near the BB&T bank building was over. No one was endangered, it turns out.
The backpack contained only personal items, said Sgt. Curtis Davenport of the Atlanta Police Department -- books and a camera. A bomb squad determined the contents after blowing up the backpack as a precaution.
The call to police about a suspicious package bolted to a table came just after 4 p.m., and resulted in the deployment of a SWAT team to the intersection of 17th and Market streets. Police shut down the busy 17th Street bridge in the midst of the afternoon commute. They also sent everyone from the BB&T building home early.
Davenport said he did not know why the pack was left there. He also said it was not bolted to a table. It was secured to a bench with a combination lock.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
