CHEYENNE — A suspicious package left at Gate 1 at F.E. Warren Air Force Base on Thursday morning prompted an evacuation of nearby homes and drew a heavy military and local law enforcement response.
An initial evacuation notice issued at about 9:30 when the package was discovered called for anyone for a mile east of the base between Randall and Pershing avenues to leave immediately, which includes the Wyoming State Capitol.
By 10:05, the evacuation radius was soon reduced to 1,850 feet, but not before Gov. Mark Gordon, two other of the state’s top five elected officials, and the rest of the Capitol were cleared.
David Pope was among those ushered out, at the Capitol for the regular monthly meeting of the Wyoming Stable Token Commission, which was also attended by Gordon, State Auditor Kristi Racines and Treasurer Curt Meier, he said.
“In our meeting, we had three of the top five executives in the state — the governor, the auditor and the treasurer,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
“So, they came in and whispered in the governor’s ear, and he went out and had a discussion,” Pope continued. “Then he came back and said we have to suspend the meeting and said there’s a suspicious package at the base and they’ve evacuated from a mile out.”
Aside from an announcement of the 1,850-foot radius around Gate 1, F.E. Warren hasn’t released any updated information about the nature of the threat, or if the package contained explosives or other potentially dangerous substances.
Pope said he also observed Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers outside the doors of the Capitol escorting Gordon out of the building, but by then his thoughts were about his young granddaughter.
She attends Pioneer Park Elementary School, which is within the evacuation radius of the incident.
“It is really close,” Pope said. “My understanding is they are sheltering in place and not evacuating her school. That tells me they have a comfort level.”
Laramie County School District 1 confirmed that in a statement, saying its schools within the 1,850-foot evauation area stayed in place.
"We are aware of the situation taking place at F.E. Warren Air Force Base," the statement says. "LCSD1 is in close communication with F.E. Warrent personnel. At the recommendation of law enforcement, at this time, none of our schools are evacuating."
On A Walk …
The response to the package was so quick that it caught local resident Ken Eppich off-guard.
He lives just a couple of houses down from the base and was on his morning walk when the package was found. When he tried to walk home, the road was blocked and he wasn’t allowed back to his house.
“I went for a walk about 10 minutes to 9 around the park, then came back down this way (along Randall Avenue) and seen all the police cars down here,” he told Cowboy State Daily while waiting patiently at the intersection of Randall and McComb avenues.
“It was all blocked and I found out they won’t let me back to my house,” he said, adding that he was grateful for a Laramie County Sheriff’s deputy nearby who gave him a bottle of water while he waited.
In talking with the deputy, Eppich said he was told that “somebody left something at the visitor center; they found it, then they sent the robot in.
“Then they opened the lid to the robot and looked inside,” Eppich continued. “That’s when they moved (the perimeter) out back here.”
Messages to the base and emergency response agencies for more information and to confirm what Eppich was told were not immediately returned.
By 11: 26 a.m., the evacuation alert had been canceled, but Gate 1 at F.E. Warren remains closed “until further notice while investigations are completed,” according to a Laramie County statement.
“There is no active threat to the installation at this time,” the base also reported in an update on the situation. “Response personnel remain on scene near Gate 1 as a precaution while the investigation continues.”
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
