Area cleared after Bomb scare in Downtown Zanesville

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Reports of a suspicious package on Fourth Street in Downtown Zanesville caused the street and several others to be shut down.

The incident started mid afternoon, when reports of a suspicious man were called in.

Zanesville Police Captain, Chris Phipps said, “Around 2:30 or so we got a BOLO “Be on the lookout” for a suspicious person around the courthouse. At the same time, one of the County Commissioners saw someone that was acting suspiciously down at the courthouse.”

A suspicious package was found in the area, around the same time the suspicious man was seen walking.

“The bomb sniffing dog detected an odor around one of the boxes that was taken into custody and brought back here. However, a little bit later other things were found that were also suspicious around the courthouse,” Phipps said.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad was called to the scene to check out the package.

“We had Franklin County do their thing. They checked it with x-rays. They checked it with the bomb machine (the robot) that they use and they determined that it was just something inert, an electronic device but nothing explosive in anyway. So, I don’t believe that the dog alerted falsely. There are things that can cause a false alert and sometimes electronics can do that,” Phipps added.

Captain Phipps said there was additional suspicious evidence around the courthouse and at one point there was a loud bang.

Captain Phipps stated, “Yeah, that would’ve been them detonating something else. They have a water detonating device that will destroy any bombing material safely as possible, so that if it does go off, it will be as safe as they can make it.”

The Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, Z.P.D, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Muskingum County E.M.A, and Zanesville Fire Department all responded, as well as the Franklin County Sheriffs Bomb Squad.

At this time, the responders have cleared out the area, and believe there is no threat to Zanesville.