By SYDNEY KENT
Traffic lined the streets as an entire city block closed yesterday afternoon in downtown Bluffton.
The Wells County Sheriff’s Department announced in a Facebook post Tuesday that security at the courthouse security received notification of a suspicious package. As a precaution, a city block was closed until the package could be inspected by the Fort Wayne Police Department Bomb Squard.
Courthouse employees were reportedly moved into other areas and later sent home. Several businesses within the block were also notified and the department’s post requested assistance from the public in staying away from the area during their procedures.
In a phone call Tuesday evening, Sheriff Scott Holliday advised that no charges would be filed and that the incident was not malicious in nature.
“We’re glad it turned out to be nothing,” Holliday said. “We never know what could happen. We let the people who are specialized in that take care of it. It’s very similar to if there were an unattended and unidentified bag at an airport, we don’t take chances.”
The area began to re-open approximately an hour after the lockdown.
The Fort Wayne Police Department, the Indiana State Police, Fort Wayne Post, Bluffton Police Department, and the Bluffton Fire Territory assisted in the investigation.
sydney@news-banner.com
