Jacksonville airport reopens after evacuation

Bomb squad removes 'destructive' device

10/2/2013

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville International Airport has reopened after a bomb squad removed a “destructive” device from the area.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office spokesman Shannon Hartley told a news conference Tuesday night that one of two suspicious packages found at the airport nearly five hours earlier had a “destructive” component that required it to be taken offsite. He said the device was later “rendered safe.”

The airport was evacuated Tuesday shortly after 6 p.m. after police found one suspicious package in the terminal and another in a nearby parking garage. Hartley wouldn’t say which of the packages was destructive. He also said he could not confirm news media reports that two suspects had been arrested.

The evacuation left planeloads of passengers stuck on the tarmac. The airport was closed for more than four hours.