Reports of a suspicious package later determined to be “harmless” delayed Saturday’s EPB Southside parade at Mainx24 by about an hour and a half, city officials said.
The package was inspected by Chattanooga police, who found it was a bag of clothes, Assistant Chief Jerri Sutton said by text Saturday.
Police responded at 10:30 a.m., the parade’s scheduled start time, to the package outside Gallery 1401 at the intersection of Main and Market streets.
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Employees at the gallery, which hadn’t opened to the public by the time of the threat, were evacuated to the Chattanooga Choo Choo around 10:30, Gallery 1401 marketing director Catherine Rodriguez said in an interview Saturday. They were allowed to return roughly two hours later, she said.
The parade, slated to begin at 10:30 a.m., instead kicked off shortly after 12.
“They inspected, it was harmless and now totally clear,” said city spokesperson Kirsten Yates by text Saturday.
Rodriguez said that besides delaying the gallery’s opening, the threat hadn’t thrown off its plans for the rest of the day.
A bomb squad detonated the bag, Sutton said, which is standard procedure for reports of a suspicious or threatening package. A Chattanooga Times Free Press photographer at the scene reported seeing police clear people within half a block of the package before detonating it and said officers were inspecting the debris on the street afterwards.
Bystanders said they could hear the blast from up to two blocks away, and one parade-goer said she saw a few children crying nearby.
“It was quite a boom,” said John Brennan, who watched the incident from a rooftop on Main Street.
The crowd, Brennan said, was still and quiet after the detonation.
“We had no idea what was going on,” he said. “No one had any idea, why the delay?”
Brennan said he knew people participating in the parade, who also said they waited out the delay without knowing what caused it.
By 1 p.m., the parade was in full swing, though two police cars were still stationed at the intersection. Some huddled under awnings as a light mist covered the crowd.
Many attendees said they arrived after the threat had been cleared or had seen police around but had not heard about the package.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319. Follow her on Twitter @ellengerst.