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Suspicious items left at St. Louis City Hall deemed harmless

By Amy R. Connolly and Danielle Haynes
A bomb technician from the St. Louis Police Department carries a cylinder that was left on the steps of City Hall in St. Louis on April 21, 2015. Police discovered the item to be a empty carbon monoxide canister. Two were found following phone calls that there may be bombs. After an evacuation and sweep of the building for five hours, the building was declared safe and was reopened. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
1 of 7 | A bomb technician from the St. Louis Police Department carries a cylinder that was left on the steps of City Hall in St. Louis on April 21, 2015. Police discovered the item to be a empty carbon monoxide canister. Two were found following phone calls that there may be bombs. After an evacuation and sweep of the building for five hours, the building was declared safe and was reopened. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

ST. LOUIS, April 21 (UPI) -- Three suspicious items left outside St. Louis City Hall were found to be harmless, police said.

Emergency workers, including police and the bomb squad, were called out to the building about 7:30 a.m. Investigators were working to determine what was inside the suspicious items, including a container leaning against an outside gate. The mayor's spokeswoman, Maggie Crane, said two cylinders and one bag were found. No one was injured.

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Police Chief Sam Dotson told StLToday.com the two cylinders contained carbon dioxide. The three items were found at different entrances to the building.

Dotson said police weren't sure if the items were meant to cause a scare.

"In the post 9-11 world, we're very vigilant to what goes on downtown," he said. "We want to make sure we get to the bottom of whoever did this, whether it's a practical joke or something more sinister."

Crane said there have been no threats. She said it is likely that whoever left the packages was caught on surveillance video.

The newest members of the Board of Aldermen were scheduled to be sworn in at 10 a.m. The ceremony was postponed. Police shutdown streets around the building and evacuated workers and visitors.

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Police used dogs to sweep city hall and the parking lot to make sure it was safe.

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