False Bomb Scare Sparked By Political Propaganda

Reports state that suspicious looking packages taped to the doors of several businesses attracted the attention of University Square security.

The packages were taped to the doors of Fine Feathers, Flash Photo Lab and Aesthetic Hair Styling.

At 8:27 p.m., Chapel Hill police were called with the reports of the suspicious boxes and envelopes.

"Security guards found the packages and called us," said Sgt. R. Koch of the Chapel Hill Police Department.

"Since we didn't know what it was, we called the (State Bureau of Investigation), and they came and took a look at it."

The packages were described by officials as envelopes containing several objects, later found to be political information, the nature of which was not disclosed.

Envelopes also were discovered on several cars.

Following protocol in cases of suspicious packages, the SBI was called in to examine the packages.

"It turned out to be some type of political propaganda, and there was absolutely nothing to it," said Capt. Everett Johnson of the Chapel Hill Police Department.

Johnson said the envelopes each contained a video, a compact disk and several papers.

The packages were collected and are still under examination.

"Our protocol is if the supervisor sees somethings suspicious, we don't handle it, we don't do a whole lot to find out," Johnson said.

"If it looks unusual, we follow that protocol."

Although the incident turned out to be harmless, Johnson approves of erring on the side of caution.

"When you see something up there, you don't know what to expect," Johnson said.

The case status has been moved to inactive.

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.