Suspicious Suitcase Turns Out Harmless

Explosives experts were called to the downtown post office Tuesday afternoon to check a suitcase found inside the building.

An employee carried the brown suitcase outside at about 4:30 p.m., placing it next to a ramp behind the post office. The building was evacuated.

Officials said the suitcase had been in the post office for several hours.

Lakeside Avenue was closed to traffic between Fifth and Seventh streets for about four hours while a bomb squad from Spokane worked on the suitcase. Police also blocked Sixth Street from Sherman Avenue to Lakeside.

The suitcase eventually was X-rayed and opened by explosives experts.

No explosive devices were found, but officers would not say what was inside.