On Wednesday October 18th the Junction City Police Department received a report of a suspicious suitcase left between the sidewalk and the street in the 1500 block of Juniper Street in Junction City. Officers arrived on scene at 10:00 AM to find a blue carry-on sized suitcase which did not have any identifying tags or markings. The suitcase was located across the street from a daycare facility. One resident told officers she left her residence around 8:30am and did not recall seeing the suitcase but upon returning around 8:45 am she noticed the suitcase at the end of her driveway. Other local businesses and homeowners were questioned about whether or not they had any knowledge of the item; none did. For safety reasons, the daycare and local residents were evacuated. While a citizen was getting ready to evacuate their residence they discovered that their vehicle had been stolen. The stolen vehicle had been parked on the street approximately fifty feet from where the suitcase was located. It is still unknown if the two incidents are related. The Eugene Police bomb squad arrived on scene at approximately 11:30 AM and x-rayed the bag. The bomb technicians rendered the bag safe by reviewing the images and ultimately opening the suitcase and determined its only contents were women’s clothing. At approximately 11:57 AM citizens were allowed to return to their homes. Although this situation ended safely with the suitcase containing nothing dangerous, the citizen who reported the incident is to be commended for taking the immediate and decisive action to call the police. This could just as easily have been a real bomb or other harmful object. Citizens are urged to always be vigilant and pay close attention to circumstances that are unusual from normal patterns. Persons encountering unattended or out-of-place parcels, bags, or other containers are cautioned to never touch the item and to immediately call 911. People should remain at least 300 feet in all directions from such items.
