On Friday, Edmonton emergency crews were called to two separate reports of suspicious packages – for the fourth and fifth time in 48 hours, and for the fourth and fifth time, officials found the contents of those packages to be harmless.
It all started Wednesday, just after 11:30 a.m., when crews were called to the Law Courts building on reports of a suspicious package.
A similar call was made just before 3 p.m. that same day at the Brownlee Building.
On Thursday just after 1 p.m., officials were called to a city law office.
Finally, on Friday morning, crews were called to the University of Alberta Hospital, before being called to Edmonton Police Service Headquarters.
In all cases, packages were deemed to be suspicious, and the Hazardous Materials Unit was called in to investigate the white powder found inside.
In all of those cases, investigators determined it was coffee whitener inside.
According to emergency officials, the calls are putting a strain on emergency crews.
“It’s being investigated thoroughly by EPS at this point, and that’s the important thing,” Jan Van Imschoot, Edmonton Fire Rescue District Chief said. “Until we really get a handle on the police investigation, we will respond to these calls like any other hazardous materials call.”
Investigators said the envelopes are believed to have come from the same source, and they were mailed together, but were found at different times.
With files from Dan Grummett
