Courthouse, Mall Evacuated In Winston-Salem
POSTED: 10:36 am EDT October 29, 2004
UPDATED: 11:02 am EDT October 29, 2004
WINSTON-SALEM -- Authorities have evacuated the Forsyth County courthouse and a shopping mall following separate incidents Friday morning.
Police say a male caller contacted the clerk's office around 9:30 a.m. and told the clerk to empty the building. Bomb-sniffing dogs are searching the building and the block surrounding the courthouse has been sealed off.
At Hanes Mall, workers said someone entered the mall and sprayed a substance on the lower level. Mall officials confirm that the mall has been evacuated, and police say several dozen people have been quarantined.
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office referred to the substance as a "suspicious biological agent." A hazardous materials unit is at the mall.
We'll have more on these stories on our noon newscast.
That does not sound good.
Hopefully it's just kids with pepper spray...not an unknown stunt in these parts.
"The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office referred to the substance as a "suspicious biological agent." A hazardous materials unit is at the mall.
"
Well, it could be. Or it might not be. How does the Sherrif's Office know it is a biological agent? Testing for that takes a while.
Apparently, it disturbed some people or made them ill. That sounds like a chemical, rather than a biological agent. Could be almost anything.
As always, it's best to use caution before calling an unknown material anything but an unknown material.
Probably "Fart Spray". Used to funny to do when I was a kid, but now it probably means jail time, or some hellacious fines...
Hanes Mall in W-S.
Just the fact that a caller warned them to evacuate points to a hoax to cause fear - real terrorists would do everything possible to ensure casualties.
Now this a "nuisance"?
Now this a "nuisance"?