A bomb threat on Gurwood Street on Tuesday saw a section of the street closed and reinforcements flown in from Sydney.
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Police were alerted to a number of devices described as alcohol bottles, wires and batteries taped together in the laneway beside Prime7 News.
More than a dozen businesses between Trail and Gurwood streets, including North Wagga Woolworths, were evacuated at about 9am.
Two specialist bomb squad officers from Sydney arrived by police helicopter at about 1pm.
They were briefed by local emergency services before heading in, declaring the area safe by 1.30pm.
“If someone’s deliberately done it, it’s an incredibly stupid thing to do, it ties up resources from all the agencies that we really need to be able to respond to people who are having genuine issues,” Acting Inspector Maggie Deall said.
She said the strong show of police, ambulance officers and the NSW Rural Fire Service was “standard procedure.”
“Until we know the area is safe we treat it as if it’s not,” she said.
The package will be forensically tested and analysed and a criminal investigation is ongoing. Inspector Deall said police were unsure as to how long the package was there.
“We take this very seriously and will be doing investigations to find out just who put that item there and why,” she said.
Anybody with information is encouraged to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.