Businesses evacuated while Bomb Squad examines device (updated)
Published 1:39 pm Tuesday, November 1, 2016
HOOVER – Two Hoover businesses were evacuated while the Hoover Police Bomb Squad examined what appeared to be an explosive device but turned out to be a hoax.
Officers responded to the Circle K (formerly BP Petro Express) at 2078 Valleydale Road at 10 a.m. Nov. 1, Capt. Gregg Rector of the Hoover Police Department’s Investigative Services Bureau said in a press release.
An employee called 911 after discovering a suspicious device on the ground in a landscaped area, on the west side of the business, according to the release.
The Bomb Squad examined the device, which was fashioned to resemble an explosive device.
Circle K and an adjacent business, Godspeed Elite Sports Academy, were evacuated for a short period of time, according to the release.
Bomb Squad officers disrupted the device, rendering it safe, and after examination determined it to be a “hoax device,” according to the release.
There were no injuries, and both businesses have re-opened.
No threat was made relating to the device that police are aware of, Rector said.
Police will investigate the incident, Rector said.
“We’ll examine evidence at the scene, the remains of the device and any surveillance video that might possibly identify the person(s) who left it there,” he said.