MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Ramsey County Courthouse has been reopened after a brief shutdown due to a suspicious package Wednesday morning.
At around 7:50 a.m., the Sheriff’s Court Security Unit was notified of a suspicious package located in a secured area of an adjacent building, near the old public tunnel to the City Hall and Courthouse (CH/CH).
Authorities then shut down the CH/CH building until the St. Paul Police Department Bomb Squad could identify the contents of the cardboard package.
“The safety of the people who work and visit the Courthouse and City Hall is an important duty of the Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Matt Bostrom said. “The person who noticed this suspicious package did the right thing by quickly reporting it to authorities. The message of “see something; say something” worked well this morning.”
After the package was checked and determined to be empty, the building reopened at 8:15 a.m.
Now, the Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident to discover who left the package and why. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office tip line at 651-266-9558.