Suspicious device was not a bomb

A suspicious device duct taped to a bicycle on the federal courthouse campus downtown Thursday contained no explosives, Spokane police said.

Federal security officers reported the suspicious device about 5:40 p.m., after it was found attached to a bicycle locked to a rack in the breezeway between the U.S. Post Office and federal courthouse.

Riverside Avenue was shut down and pedestrian traffic was rerouted around both buildings in the block between Riverside and Main Avenue, and Monroe and Lincoln streets.

The Spokane bomb squad took pictures of the device with an X-ray camera. The device, which contained no explosive components, appeared to be an electric charger of some kind and had a switch, said Lt. Brad Arleth, Spokane police bomb squad commander.

It was suspicious enough that federal workers were “uncomfortable with it,” and reported it, he said.

The bomb squad disassembled the device, and authorities are looking for the bike’s owner, Arleth said.

Although it appeared no federal employees were evacuated, dozens of construction workers were ushered from the loading area across Main during the incident.