Gainesville Police confirmed that suspicious materials found Friday morning in a condominium complex southeast of Sorority Row are not explosive.
At about 8:30 a.m., GPD received a call from maintenance personnel working at the Oxford Terrace II complex, 921 SW Depot Ave., who found suspicious materials in an empty, third-story unit, said GPD spokesman Ben Tobias.
GPD officers assessed the materials and Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Disposal Team arrived to the complex at about 8:50 a.m.
Police evacuated more than half of the complex’s residents and blocked off Southwest Depot Avenue between Southwest Sixth Street and Southwest 11th Street.
Tobias said officers recovered the materials, including a replica “pineapple”-type grenade, inside the apartment and confirmed they were not explosive.
The materials will be analyzed by ASO bomb and GPD forensics teams, he said.
After almost five hours of investigating, police reopened the complex to residents and Southwest Depot Avenue to traffic at about 2 p.m.
“GPD completely understands and respects that residents were inconvenienced today,” he said. “However, we would much rather take the time to properly test and analyze any materials that have the possibility of being explosive materials. Luckily, these materials were inert and everyone gets to go home today.”
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
Officers from the Alachua County Sheriff's Office Bomb Disposal Team investigate a suspicious explosive device at Oxford Terrace II located off Southwest Depot Avenue on Friday afternoon.
