Florida courthouse evacuated due to suspicious 'device with wires'

Polk County courthouse in Bartow, Florida was evacuated on Thursday night after officials found a suspicious device with wires coming out of it in three canisters. The alarming find turned out to be electronic trash.

About a dozen inmates were transported out of the courthouse jail, but no one else was allowed in or out of the building while bomb dogs searched the courthouse and the State Fire Marshall attended the scene.

Bartow Police Department sent a bomb disposal robot to check on the suspicious packages in front of the courthouse. Police later determined that the bomb scare was false and the three containers with wires were filled with discarded electronic trash.

Police revealed that a bomb threat was phoned in earlier in the day. It’s unclear whether the two incidents are connected.

Federal investigators currently suspect that 10 bombs mailed to prominent Democrats and other public figures in the past few days originated in south Florida, where the courthouse is located. Sources cited by various media are now saying all 10 devices were delivered through the US postal system.

The packages are currently being analyzed at FBI labs in Quantico, VA. Law enforcement is beefing up its presence in south Florida in an effort to apprehend the culprit(s), but the investigation continues nationwide. FBI, ATF, and Secret Service agents are attempting to track down where the bomb components were purchased.

Former vice-president Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro were the latest to join the list of package recipients, placing them in the company of other prominent Trump critics including the Clintons, Obamas, Eric Holder, Maxine Waters, and George Soros.

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