CLEVELAND, Tenn. - A white substance later determined to be talcum powder caused the Bradley County Courthouse to be evacuated Wednesday afternoon.
An employee in the Circuit Court clerk's office on the second floor of the courthouse opened an envelope just after noon and found the powder.
On the back side of the envelope, which the clerk did not see until she opened it, were the words "anthrax letter," Miller said.
"They are all like my family, and this just tears me up," said a distraught Circuit Court Clerk Gayla Miller as she and others waited for a field test result. "I'm so thankful no one was hurt.
"[The envelope] came, apparently, from the penitentiary," Miller said.
FBI and U.S. Postal Service investigators were called to make a preliminary field test on the powder. A federal investigator, also in hazmat gear, performed the test and determined the material was talcum powder. The courthouse got the all-clear around 3:30 p.m.
Miller was at her county justice center office and not at the courthouse when the incident took place.
After opening the letter, the clerk told a courthouse security officer from the Bradley County Sheriff's Office what happened, sheriff's office spokesman Bob Gault said. The department provides security for the second-floor court area.
Sheriff Jim Ruth received a text message about the incident from the 911 Center.
"Any other mail here in the courthouse or in the courthouse annex will be held and checked out," he said.
"Sometimes people think of us as secretaries," Miller said. "But everything that goes to the courts comes to us first."
No one was hurt during the evacuation, Ruth said.
Cleveland Fire Department units responded to the courthouse as did Cleveland Police Department officers and sheriff's deputies.
Circuit Court employees were escorted from the courthouse to a yellow tent outside to change clothing before being taken to SkyRidge Medical Center to be checked.
Fire department hazardous materials team members were in full hazmat gear as they entered the courthouse. Later they were decontaminated with a sprayer outside.
All other courthouse employees were told to leave the building. Many went across Broad Street to the courthouse annex.
"We closed the courthouse just as a precaution," County Mayor D. Gary Davis said. "After they had been waiting for some time, we told them they could just go on home for the day."
Ruth and Chief Deputy Wayne Bird said the investigation will continue.