HALIFAX -- Multiple streets in Dieppe, New Brunswick, were shut down on Saturday morning after police were called to the City Hall building at around 9 a.m. following reports of a suspicious package.
“For a precaution, a perimeter was set up and several streets were closed to traffic,” says New Brunswick RCMP Corporal, Jullie Rogers-Marsh. “The library and the City Hall buildings were evacuated.”
The commotion caused by the suspicious package caused concern for many.
"I live up the hill over here, and I saw all the lights and I told my brother there's something wrong somewhere," says Dieppe resident, Louis Geudet.
Codiac RCMP and Dieppe fire crews were on scene, diverting traffic away from one of the busiest intersections in the city.
“It was all blocked, every corner for at least 500-feet around," says Geudet.
Dieppe Mayor Yvon Lapierre says the package was discovered by a library employee outside a main entrance to City Hall.
“We hear about things happening in our major cities of our country; around the world; everywhere,” says Lapierre. “So, I think the proper thing to do is act the way they reacted – which was to call in the RCMP and let the professionals do their job.”
The RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit was called in from Fredericton to investigate. After about five hours of officials being on scene, they were able to confirm the package was not dangerous.
The city's mayor says he's pleased with the way in which the incident was handled.
"It's upsetting, obviously, to think that that's where we are as a community; that we have to have that level of anxiety,” says Lapierre. “But we're better to be prudent than ignore something like that, then have an unfortunate death."
Meanwhile, roads were reopened around 1 p.m. after RCMP cleared the scene, leaving traffic to resume its usual pace.
