BREAKING NEWS – SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE FORCES HOME EVACUATIONS IN HEMET

***UPDATE #5 @8:00**

 

Written by Trevor Montgomery

Riverside County News Source

 

Deputy Armando Munoz of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Media Information Bureau has confirmed the package found earlier today near the intersection of Mayberry and  Columbia was determined safe.

Investigators have yet to announce what was in the package and how it got there, according to Munoz.

***UPDATE #4 @4:00**

***UPDATE #3 @3:30**

The Hazardous Devices Team/Bomb Squad is now on scene and using their robot to inspect the suspicious package.

More to follow as it becomes available.

***UPDATE #2 @3:00***

Riverside County Sheriff’s Hazardous Devices Team now on scene.

More information to follow as it becomes available.

***UPDATE #1 @2:15***

 

We are now receiving unconfirmed reports that Ramona Elementary School has now been placed on lock down. More to follow as it becomes available.

 

Written by Trevor Montgomery

Riverside County News Source

On-Scene Reporter/Photographer

J.P. Kemp/Epicenter News

According to Deputy Munoz, of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Media Information Bureau, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Hemet Station are actively working an incident involving a suspicious package. The incident has forced the evacuation of a number of houses in the area of Mayberry and Columbia, in the unincorporated area of Hemet.

Deputy Munoz stated the department received a call of a suspicious package with unknown contents at approximately 12:20 p.m. from a concerned citizen. Not knowing what was in the package, the citizen called the sheriff’s department.

Initially responding deputies found enough evidence of a suspicious nature to warrant calling out the department’s Hazardous Devices Team to conduct a further investigation into the package and it’s contents.

According to Deputy Munoz, as of 1:40 p.m., six homes in the surrounding area had been evacuated as a precautionary measure. Deputy Munoz confirmed more homes and even a local school could be affected, but only if the members of the Hazardous Devices Team deem that to be a necessary precaution.

Deputy Munoz stated the department is not currently looking for any suspect related to this incident and the evacuations and road closures in the area are strictly as a precautionary measure right now, as it is unknown what might be inside the package.

This is an active and ongoing investigation. Check back regularly for updates.

 

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