Radio stations evacuated over beeping package

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 13 years ago

LOS ANGELES: Two Los Angeles news radio stations were evacuated for about two hours on Tuesday, along with a number of other offices in the 27-story building they share, after police were called to investigate a package that was making beeping noises.

A Los Angeles police bomb squad later determined that the parcel was harmless and contained only promotional materials.

The offices of KNX and KFWB, both CBS affiliates, were evacuated after calls to the police and fire departments at around 8:30 a.m., Los Angeles police spokesman Richard French said.

"We got a call ... that a package had been delivered to the second floor lobby, and there appeared to be some kind of ticking or beeping coming from" it, he said.

An LAPD bomb squad responded to the building in the city's mid-Wilshire district, which also houses law firms and other offices, to examine the parcel.

"The bomb squad examined it and discovered that it was promotional material," LAPD Commander Andrew Smith said.

KNX said in a broadcast report that the package had been sent to a music radio station that shared the building and was considered suspicious because it was "oddly wrapped" and making beeping noises.

KFWB said in a statement posted on its website that the building had been evacuated by law enforcement officials "due to a bomb threat." - Reuters