Suspicious device investigation creates confusion and traffic snafus in Baltimore County
BALTIMORE -- A bomb scare prompted Baltimore County police to shut down Security Boulevard and evacuate area businesses on Tuesday afternoon.
By Tuesday evening, a suspicious device had been diffused and the boulevard had reopened.
People described to WJZ the traffic created by the investigation, which yielded a person of interest and scant other details.
"Busy, busy, busy area," one gas station attendant said. "Busy. All through the day."
Driver said they were confused by the melee.
"I got turned all around," Evelyn said. "I didn't know which way to go. I didn't know what was going on."
Evelyn said no one told her why she had to vacate the area, only that she had to leave it immediately.
"It's a bomb scare," the gas station attendent said. "You have to go. No exceptions."
The bomb scare turned Meadows Park Shopping Center into a relative ghost town.
Hotel guests were asked to leave the vicinity too.
"The Baltimore County Police banged on the door, saying there was a bomb threat in the hotel further up the street and we had to evacuate," one woman said of her experience.
By 3 p.m., it became clear that first responders were focused on a motel on Whitehead Court.
"They came into the restaurants, the hotels, the stores, the supermarkets, the pizza place," the gas station attendant said. "They told everyone they had to leave the area."
Chopper 13 obtained footage of a bomb squad using the Rodeway Inn as cover while technicians sent robots into a motel room to remove material.
By 5 p.m., officers had entered the room and could be seen carrying out items by hand.
