Bomb Scare at 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco

Several employees at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco got an extra vacation day earlier this week because someone in the building was shipping his Best Buy orders to his work address.

Yes, that may be a fairly light-hearted way of saying that many people left work early after a suspicious package caused a full-blown bomb scare at the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the bomb scare at the federal courthouse turned out to be nothing more than a package containing a "harmless electronic devices that an employee had delivered to the building."

Nevertheless, several hours were spent x-raying the package to ensure that it did not contain anything harmful. And even after the package was cleared, bomb-sniffing dogs were on site to look out for other possible items of concern.

The package was found at the San Francisco building in the South of Market (SoMa) district housing the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The suspicious package was discovered in the mailroom by a police bomb squad, reports California Beat. According to the report, parts of the courthouse were evacuated and several nearby streets were closed off to motorists as well as pedestrians.

Police officers were called to Stevenson Street at 11:30 a.m. and were told that there was an item in the mailroom that may contain a a device, said Police spokesperson Sgt. Troy Dangerfield.

Reports the San Francisco Chronicle, "By the afternoon, they had determined it was a consumer electronic device an employee had ordered and had shipped to the courthouse."

Luckily for the employee who ordered the gadget, he's still allowed to play with his toy, as the Chronicle also reported that the "police did not destroy the device and the employee will be able to use it."

Related Resources

• S.F.: Federal courthouse evacuated because of suspicious package (San Jose Mercury News)
• Browse 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Decisions (FindLaw)
• In Defense of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (FindLaw's Writ)