A suspicious package near the San Francisco Public Library Excelsior branch prompted an evacuation of the library and a voluntary shelter-in-place at a nearby school Thursday afternoon, police and school officials said.
A suitcase was found on the street outside the library, located at 4400 Mission St., at 12:41 p.m., San Francisco police spokesman Sgt. Dennis Toomer said.
The library was evacuated, surrounding streets closed to motorists and pedestrians, and nearby schools were informed about the suspicious package, Toomer said.
Parents of students at the San Francisco Community School, located on Excelsior Avenue at Paris Street, requested a lockdown and the K-8 school voluntarily sheltered in place, San Francisco Unified School District spokeswoman Heidi Anderson.
Monroe Elementary School, around the corner from the SF Community School, was informed about the scare at the library, however no lockdown was ordered there, Anderson said.
The bomb squad responded to the area and deemed that the package was not a bomb, Toomer said.
The streets reopened around 2 p.m., which is when the library resumed operations and the lockdown ended at the school, Toomer said.
No injuries were reported.
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
