(The following story appeared on the Charlotte Observer website on June 17, 2010.)
CHARLOTTE, N. Carolina — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say suspicious packages found on a freight train near uptown Charlotte were harmless.
Police Chief Rodney Monroe said the bags found on three tankers of the train were likely left by homeless people and posed no threat.
The bags were reported at about 10:25 a.m. Thursday on a freight train on the tracks near the Amtrak station in the 1900 block of North Tryon Street.
Police were concerned because one of the packages was on a tanker that was carrying fertilizer, which can be explosive.
The Amtrak station and an office building adjacent to it were evacuated for a brief period as a precaution. North Tryon and 16th streets were also closed during the evacuation.
Things returned to normal around noon.
“Big relief,” said Linda Holden, who owns a building across the street from the Amtrak station. “I just didn’t want all of my renters to be disrupted and have to evacuate and worry about everything. So I am just totally relieved about this.”