Reports of pipe bombs force Barnesville evacuation
By BILL MONTGOMERY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
GBI bomb technicians were investigating a report of pipe bombs in several locations around downtown Barnesville late this morning .
FBI spokesman John Bankhead said portions of downtown were evacuated, as bomb experts were dispatched to examine "suspicious packages scattered like they had been thrown out, possibly from a vehicle."
Laura Dodgen, an officer with a United Bank in the Ingles supermarket outside the Lamar County seat, said "they've evacuated our main office and closed a lot of downtown, including the library."
A sheriff's dispatcher said five or six of what could be pipe bombs were found in the city, "but we don't know if they are are real or not."
Police officials could not immediately be reached.
"We don't what exactly we're dealing with, but we want to take every precaution until we know what these things are," said Bankhead, reached on his car phone around 11 a.m. as he headed toward Barnesville, about 50 miles south of Atlanta.
I'm leaning toward a teenager prank until I hear more information.