Last night, police closed traffic near Market and Castro and instructed residents to shelter in place order after responding to a report of a suspicious package at 9:17pm.
According to SFPD spokesperson Officer Grace Gatpandan, police were called to the area after someone discovered "a propane tank" that had "a label indicating the item was possibly explosive in nature."
#BreakingNews #HappeningNow #SF Market & Castro Streets closed to all traffic due to possible suspicious package. Avoid area as #SFPD clears
— Ofc. Grace Gatpandan (@OfficerGrace) May 4, 2017
In response, officers immediately restricted pedestrian and vehicular traffic, issued a shelter in place order and established a perimeter. The department's Explosive Ordinance Disposal team "responded to the scene and ultimately rendered the item non-hazardous at approximately 11:10pm," Gatpandan wrote via email.
Several blocks are closed off around Market St and Castro St. Police may be investigating a suspicious device. pic.twitter.com/pHK3q0US61
— Sergio Quintana (@svqjournalist) May 4, 2017
This is the second time SFPD's bomb-disposal team has been called into action in recent weeks. On April 24, police responded to a suspicious device report on Potrero Hill; in that case, EOD officers rendered a pipe bomb and a grenade safe "after a small detonation," said Bayview Station Capt. Raj Vaswani.