Briefcase with ‘some wires attached' causes evacuation of 30th Street Station

Travelers on late night trains were evacuated from 30th Street Station early Wednesday after, police said, a suspicious package was found on an Amtrak train overnight.

According to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, at about 12:30 a.m., police were alerted to a report that a suspicious package had been found on a luggage rack of an Amtrak train at 30th Street Station.

“When police went and investigated, they saw that there was a briefcase and it appeared there were some wires attached to that briefcase,” Small explained.

The department’s bomb squad was brought in and, he said, the station was briefly evacuated to allow police to inspect the device.

However, it was determined that the briefcase was not an explosive device. Instead, Small said, the briefcase was found to have “electronic equipment inside.”

No one was injured and the scene was cleared, he said.

As of 5 a.m. on Wednesday, conditions were back to normal at 30th Street Station.