HAVERHILL — Investigators looking into yesterday's bomb scare at the bus station in Washington Square are checking video to try to identify who left a suitcase at the station.
Police feared the suitcase might have contained explosives. They called in a state police bomb squad, which X-rayed the suitcase and determined there was only a license plate inside.
Police said the station has security cameras, which might have recorded who left the suitcase.
"We know there are some cameras in the area, but we don't know exactly what they are covering until we investigate further," Deputy Chief Donald Thompson said.
Because the suitcase was left in such a busy area, police took extra precautions by closing Washington Square to traffic while members of the bomb squad determined whether the suitcase held explosives. The area is in the heart of downtown.
"It's a public transportation area where you have a suitcase left unattended," Thompson said. "It's something we wanted to handle very carefully. There is pedestrian traffic, buses coming and going, and we didn't want to see anybody get hurt."
Police cordoned off the area around the bus station at 12 Washington Square for nearly two hours as the bomb squad investigated the contents of the suitcase which had been left on the sidewalk outside the station.
Using special X-ray technology, the two members of the bomb squad determined that the black, plastic suitcase was empty, except for a relatively new-looking Massachusetts license plate.
Thompson said investigators traced the former owner of the license plate, who told police that the car the plate belonged on had been repossessed one and a half years ago.
About 6:45 a.m. yesterday, a bus driver for the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority spotted the suitcase on the sidewalk. He called the bus dispatcher, who notified police, said MVRTA General Manager John Whittaker.
"They have extensive training to be on notice for packages left in public areas," Whittaker said, referring to the drivers and other employees of the transportation company. "They all did what they were supposed to do."
Police established a 50- to 100-foot buffer zone around it, preventing pedestrians from getting close.
Traffic was shut down on the stretch of Washington Street from The Tap to Washington Square, while Merrimack Street heading in the other direction was shut down as well. Essex Street also was closed, as were several side streets. Buses were rerouted.
Whittaker estimated that about 200 riders were affected by the temporary shutdown of the bus station.
The bomb squad set up a command post on Essex Street, where Sgt. Paul Horgan, a state police detective in the fire and explosion investigation section, put on an armored suit. He then took an X-ray device to the suitcase.
Horgan and Trooper Eric Gahagan viewed the images on a laptop computer and determined that the contents were not dangerous. Horgan returned to the suitcase, opened it, and pulled out the license plate.
Police cleared the scene by about 9 a.m.
A number of people gathered inside the Kwik Stop Convenience Store at 25A Washington Square, where they had a good view of the action.
"I think it's scary," said Wendy Lamothe, a Haverhill resident. "It doesn't feel safe anywhere."
Her friend Cheryl Cousins, also a local resident, said she thought someone was making a movie.
"You hear about stuff like this on the news, but never think it's going to happen in your own town," she said, while the incident was going on.
Cousins said she and several of her friends gather every day at the bus station to socialize and catch up on the latest gossip.
"That's our place," she said, peering through the large windows overlooking Washington Square as the bomb squad experts went about their business. "I can't believe this is happening."
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