Suspicious package in Corinth Square deemed safe

A suspicious package with protruding wires was reported at around 11 a.m. in Corinth Square on Sunday. Police barricaded the area and cleared crowds of approximately 30 people away from the device.

The package had been placed on the sidewalk between two cars at the corner of the Hen House grocery store, at the corner closest to Hattie’s and Gerry’s Optical stores.

Since the Overland Park Bomb Squad does not typically work on weekends, there was some delay in their arrival, according to junior Mac Dolliver, an employee at the Wild Bird Center in Corinth Square. He said that the bomb squad eventually arrived and parked outside of Melly’s, and a small robot drove to the package and sat next to it. He went on to say that a bomb squad official followed the robot after a period of time and placed another small package on the ground next to the suspicious package. Dolliver assumes that it was a device used to detect explosive chemicals, but was unsure.

Junior Molly Kurtz was at Dancers Unlimited dance studio at the time of the scare. After talking with her mom on the phone, she decided to stay at the studio until the parking lot was completely deemed safe.  Kurtz said she thought the patrol cars were in the Corinth parking lot because of a parade when she first arrived for her 11:30 a.m. dance lesson.

“I came down [to the studio] and realized a little girl was crying in there because their was a little girls class before my class and I was like ‘Oh, gosh, this is not a parade,'” Kurtz said.

The package was x-rayed by the Overland Park bomb squad and was deemed safe to move at around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, so the bomb squad relocated the package to a safe location.  Police now say the object is a car part that could have fallen off a vehicle accidentally.