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For the second day in a row, police respond to suspicious package in Santa Fe
SANTA FE — For the second day in a row, alarm over a suspicious package disrupted work at government offices in Santa Fe as a police explosives team responded.
The state Capitol was briefly evacuated early Friday after a suspicious package was spotted on the east side of the building.
It turned out to be a Styrofoam ice cooler left over from an environmental protest, State Police Officer Ray Wilson said.
The incident came just a day after police closed roads in downtown Santa Fe and sought voluntary evacuations while investigating a package that authorities said “resembled an improvised explosive device.”
It may have been a hoax, and the explosive ordinance disposal team from the Santa Fe Police Department is investigating.
The item was found near Hotel Chimayo on Washington Avenue, prompting an evacuation of the building that houses the Administrative Office of the Courts.
“The EOD Team evaluated the device and after close inspection determined it was an inert non-explosive device,” the department said. “However, the appearance and construction of the device led EOD investigators to believe it may have been an intentional hoax; the device closely resembled an improvised explosive device.”
The Thursday and Friday incidents aren’t believed to be connected, authorities said.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is traveling out of state this week.
On Twitter, she thanked police “for responding quickly to a situation outside the state capitol this morning involving a suspicious package.
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