Suspicious package prompts tower evacuation

The first and second floors of the Capitol Executive Tower were evacuated Friday after a suspicious package was left at the Arizona Department of Homeland Security.

But several hours after the evacuations, the package was determined to contain nothing more than a voltage meter, said Alan Ecker a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Administration.

Capitol Police said people were evacuated from the tower about 10:15 a.m. People were allowed to re-enter the building by 11:45 a.m.

A state Department of Public Safety bomb squad was at the building and a K-9 unit made a sweep of the second floor, said DPS Det. Miguel Renteria.

The package was taken off-site for evaluation, and X-rays were taken of it, he said.

Sources inside the tower said the first two floors were emptied after a package with no return address was left at the agency’s unmanned front desk.

“It’s standard policy to call us if there is any inclination of a suspicious package left unattended,” Renteria said. “There’s been too much going on in our world and we just want to make sure everything is safe. I think they did a good job following protocol here today.”

- Reporter Alex MacLean contributed to this report