By Clair McFarland, Cowboy State Daily
clair@cowboystatedaily.com
A suspicious package sent to U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney’s staff in Riverton prompted business evacuations and a “bomb-dog” deployment Thursday afternoon, but the package ultimately was deemed safe.
The Riverton Police Department was notified at 3:52 Thursday afternoon that a Cheney representative had received a package from Montana with “some strange writing on it,” RPD spokesman Officer Wes Barry told Cowboy State Daily.
“Based on that package coming from out-of-state, we contacted some of our resources, and those resources said ‘Proceed with caution,’” Barry said.
The package was brought to the parking lot in front of RPD, which abuts a row of downtown businesses. Police cordoned off the area and evacuated the nearest businesses, said Barry.
“Then (we) called in the bomb dog from Lander, just in case there was an explosive device,” he added.
The dog did not alert on the package, which, when opened, contained at least one book.
There was an enormous personnel response to the incident, said Barry, adding that agents from RPD, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Highway Patrol were in the parking lot, along with volunteers from the Riverton Volunteer Fire Department.
Barry wasn’t sure where the package was Friday morning, but said the protocol would be for its original “receiver” to have it back since it was found to be safe. He declined to say who had sent the package.
