STONEHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Traffic is flowing once again in Stoneham after a suspicious device left outside a gas station Tuesday morning caused officials to close off the area and evacuate homes nearby as a precaution before determining the device to be a battery pack.
Emergency response crews taped off the area to investigate a suspicious package that was left outside the gas station on North Border Road by Route 28. State Police were on the scene with their bomb squad, including a bomb squad robot that moved back and forth from the gas station to the nearby Friendly’s parking lot, where authorities were staged. An ambulance and fire trucks were also on the scene.
Kathleen Craven, who’s worked as a clerk at the Mobil station for 13 years, said she knew something wasn’t right when she noticed the suspicious item Tuesday morning.
“The fire department showed up, the police department showed up, some troopers showed up so it was getting hectic,” said Craven.
Officials evacuated residents who live in the area out of precaution as the bomb squad directed their focus on the device.
“They said ‘you need to get out,'” said Kay Eng, one of the residents who evacuated Tuesday morning.
A bomb squad member was seen opening the box, taking out what appeared to be batteries and wires. Authorities said at 9:49 a.m. that the package was determined to be a battery pack assembly, commercially manufactured likely for some type of electric motorized vehicle.
“We got a little nervous because the way society is today with everything going on, we got a little nervous,” Craven said. “I’m just thankful everything’s okay and everybody’s safe, honestly, that’s all that matters everybody’s safe, none of the firefighters or anybody got hurt.”
The incident remains under investigation as police review surveillance video from the gas station to determine who left the package of batteries.
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