Officers with the Edmonton Police Service are investigating a possible suspicious package on the city’s north side.
A police spokesperson confirmed officers were called to the area of 95 Street and 114 Avenue at 9 a.m. Friday, responding to reports of a suspicious package.
Police said employees of the Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre found the suspicious package outside of the building.
“All we can say is that it just looked suspicious and so we turned it directly over to police,” Bev Parks, executive director of the centre, said.
The centre was evacuated as a result, and police shut down streets in the area.
EPS contained the area, and the Explosives Disposal Unit was called in to evaluate the package.
Within hours, the package had been removed safely – the all-clear was given just before noon.
CTV News has learned about 80 people are employed at the centre, but not all staff were on scene at the time of the incident. Parks said no children were present at the time.
“We ensured that our buses for our children were turned around, and so they could go back home and so we were very fortunate,” Parks said.
By the time the all-clear came, officials at the centre had already cancelled programming for the rest of the day.
“We were fortunate because it was first thing in the morning so we try and do all our perimeter and playground checks prior to any children and families coming on site,” Parks said, saying she was proud of how staff handled the situation.
“They were amazing, they were calm, they knew exactly what to do.”
Police are investigating.
With files from Amanda Anderson
