CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Capitol was closed most of the day Tuesday after a suspected improvised explosive device was found on the Great Seal in front of the building.
It was found by someone walking by, who picked it up and took it into the Capitol, where Wyoming Highway Patrol Troopers were alerted, the WHP reported Tuesday evening.
The Capitol was evacuated and the area secured by troopers at about 9:45 a.m., the WHP reports.
The investigation remains active, and authorities are “seeking information that will aid investigators,” the WHP reports. “If any suspicious activity was seen or recorded in the early morning hours of October 21st, please contact DCI (Division of Criminal Investigation).”
It then gives a link to DCI.
Along with evacuating the Capitol, a shelter-in-place warning also was issued for people working in the nearby East and West Herschler buildings.
A significant law enforcement presence had already set up around the Capitol grounds by 11 a.m., which included officials from the Cheyenne Police Department, WHP, DCI, Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, Cheyenne Fire Rescue, AMR, FBI, ATF, the Department of Homeland Security, and a joint bomb squad of the LCSO and CPD.
Several drones were observed hovering and flying in the air over the Capitol as officers patrolled through the area with K-9s.
At one point, the K-9s and their handlers were seen conducting sniff searches outside the front of the Capitol facing 24th Street, and later a group of people in plain clothes wearing gloves were observed investigating on the front steps of the building.
The Capitol was closed foer the rest of Tuesday, but expected to reopen for business Wednesday morning, the WHP reports.
Law enforcement dogs sniff around the outside of the Wyoming Capitol on Tuesday during an evacuation and lockdown of the building sparked by the report of an improvised explosive device in the building. (Wyoming Highway Patrol) 
A group of people in plain clothes investigate on the steps of the Wyoming Capitol on Tuesday during an evacuation and lockdown of the building sparked by the report of an improvised explosive device in the building. (Jackson Walker, Cowboy State Daily) 
Law enforcement dogs sniff around the outside of the Wyoming Capitol on Tuesday during an evacuation and lockdown of the building sparked by the report of an improvised explosive device in the building. (Wyoming Highway Patrol) 
Yellow crime scene tape surrounds the Wyoming Capitol on Tuesday during an evacuation and lockdown of the building sparked by the report of an improvised explosive device in the building. (Wyoming Highway Patrol) 
The Wyoming Capitol has been evacuated and put on lockdown Tuesday after a report of a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) in the building, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reports. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
(Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
(Jackson Walker, Cowboy State Daily) 
(Jackson Walker, Cowboy State Daily)
Gathering Details
Wyoming Highway Patrol officials have released few other details about what the suspected IED was or if it was actually an explosive.
Because the investigation is still active, WHP public information officer Aaron Brown said those details will be released as they become available.
About noon, roads around the Capitol grounds were closed from 21st to 27th streets between Carey and Central avenues. By about 2:30, all but 26th Street had reopened, and at about 4:30 p.m., that street was cleared for traffic as well.
Brown said the decision to limit traffic was out of an abundance of caution as the investigation proceeds.
"That is basically to keep people out of the investigation, but also to keep people safe," Brown said. "That's the big one for us, is making sure the public is safe as we're investigating.”
‘Ongoing Investigation'
A group of WHP officers on the scene also declined to comment.
Amy Edmonds, a spokesperson of Gov. Mark Gordon’s office, told Cowboy State Daily the governor’s top priority is the safety of those at the building.
"Governor Mark Gordon is actively working with law enforcement and is monitoring this situation,” Edmonds said. “This incident is an ongoing investigation. All Capitol employees have been notified of the situation.
When the state Legislature is in session, the Capitol building is swept daily by two WHP troopers with dogs.
A little more than a year ago on Sept. 16, 2024, the Herschler Building on the Capitol grounds was evacuated after a suspicious white powder was found in the Secretary of State's Office. That incident coincided with threats that day made to the secretaries of state of Iowa and Nebraska.
The Tuesday incident continues as an active investigation and the WHP says it is working with its law enforcement partners to bring this case to a swift and safe conclusion.
Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.
