News channel 5 in Nashville just reported that the Clarksville TN police dept is shut down and quarantined with hazmat crews on site. Someone brought in a hazardous substance which triggered this response. Several streets around the police dept are also closed. No info on what the substance is.
Possible smallpox contamination at Clarksville PD
By Christine Anne Piesyk | August 13, 2007
The Clarksville Police Department on Commerce Street was locked down shortly after 7:30 p.m. after a young man walked into the department with a “suspicious” package possibly containing smallpox. Within minutes the City’s Rescue Squad, Fire Department and Homeland Security vehicles arrived on the scene. No one, police officers or civilians, was being allowed into the building, or allowed to leave. The police could not yet confirm definitely that the substance was smallpox virus.
Clarksville Online contacted the department but officers refused to comment on this breaking story or events leading up to it.
A witness to the event, calling from the station after the lock down, reported being told by police that they believed the substance in question to be smallpox virus and would have to wait out the investigative process.
We will continue to follow this breaking news story. A press statement is expected at approximately 8:40 p.m.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Clarksville Police Department has been quarantined and specialists from Fort Campbell were summoned to identify a suspicious package found near the station. Citing scanner traffic, the Leaf-Chronicle reported that "the station may be contaminated by an undisclosed hazardous biological substance."
Officials blocked off Commerce Street, where the station is located, from Riverside Drive to First Street. Mayor Johnny Piper said someone brought in an unknown substance into the station earlier Monday.
"We want the public to know in this particular area that they are safe. It has been determined that this is not an airborne threat," Piper said in a news conference Monday night. "The local citizens who live in this area should be aware and not to be concerned about their health."
Piper said it was some type of foreign substance and that he was not aware of any threats made against any officials or agencies. Police said motorists should avoid the area near the police department Monday night and Tuesday morning because several streets were closed. The department will be closed for at least the next day as the investigation continues.
No other confirmed details are available at this time. Stay with NewsChannel 5.com for more information as it becomes available.
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=6927100&nav=menu374_2