Crime & Safety

Suspicious Powder Evacuates Lawrence Police Station

White powder - which tests revealed was a nonhazardous starch - was packed into a shotgun shell that was part of a harassing mailing sent to a Lawrence Township resident.

A suspicious white powder prompted authorities to order a precautionary evacuation of the (Feb. 7). All civilians and nonessential personnel were kept out of the building for almost an hour until hazardous materials personnel from the Trenton Fire Department confirmed the substance was a nonhazardous starch, said Lt. Charles Edgar, police department spokesman.

The white powder was packed into a spent shotgun shell that was mailed to a Lawrence Township resident, Edgar said. He said the 39-year-old man told police he believes the doctored shotgun shell was sent to him by a former employer who, the man alleged, has been harassing him for some time.

The 39-year-old, who only recently moved into Lawrence Township, went to the township police station in the 2200 block of Lawrence Road (Route 206) to show police the shotgun shell and other harassing materials he had received, Edgar said.

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Seeing the white powder, he said, police erred on the side of caution and evacuated the building and requested a response from township firefighters and the HazMat team from Trenton at about 11:50 a.m.

Municipal court officials temporarily relocated to the conference room on the lower level of the municipal building, Edgar said. While he did not have specific details, Edgar said he had been told some court proceedings had to be rescheduled due to the disruption.

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Those who came in contact with the shotgun shell were quarantined inside the building.

The township’s daytime duty crew of career firefighters, volunteer firefighters from Lawrence Road Fire Co., and a Lawrence Township Emergency Medical Service ambulance crew stood by outside while Trenton hazardous materials technicians – wearing protective clothing and self-contained breathing apparatus – went inside and analyzed the white powder.

The building was reopened to the public and normal activity resumed soon after testing by the HazMat team showed the powder was harmless.

Edgar said detectives have launched an investigation into the harassment.     


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