There was high drama in Yellowknife Tuesday morning as RCMP investigated two suspicious packages – one downtown, the other near the airport.
RCMP cordoned off the Northwestel building on Franklin Avenue at 52 Street just after 10:00 a.m., after a suspicious black suitcase was left outside the office tower.
RCMP Constable Heather Cosenzo says police cordoned off the scene as a precaution as they tried to figure out what to do with the suitcase.
(John McFadden/CKLB photo)
The building itself was not evacuated.
The investigation concluded that the suitcase was non-suspicious and harmless.
The suitcase was removed and regular activity and traffic was able to resume in the area.
Meanwhile, about a half-hour earlier, police received a report of a suspicious box in a building in the industrial area of McMillan Street, off Old Airport Road not far from the airport.
RCMP attended and secured a facility in the area.
Police say the box was left behind at the facility, which they do not name, by an individual who is believed to have made a comment that the box may have contained an explosive device.
Once Yellowknife RCMP received this information, they evacuated the facility and requested the assistance of the Alberta RCMP Explosive Disposal Unit.
The investigation concluded the box was again harmless and non-suspicious.
It’s believed the discovery of the box did not affect operations at the airport.
The investigation has shown that the comment does not appear to have been made with intent, however comments of this nature have to be taken seriously, police stated.
“Under the Criminal Code of Canada, anyone who conveys information they know to be false with intent to injure or alarm any person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years,” police stated. “The investigation concluded that the suitcase was non-suspicious, the suitcase was removed and regular activity was able to resume in the area.”
At this time, RCMP state that the investigations do not support a link between the two incidents.
They have not made it clear, what, if anything was inside the box or the suitcase.