Raynham police: Walmart bomb scare likely 'inadvertent'
Rebecca Hyman
The bomb scare in the Wal-Mart parking lot appears to have been "unintentional" not a deliberate hoax, Raynham Police Chief James Donovan said.
"It appears it was inadvertent," Donovan said.
A customer alerted police after coming across three suspicious bags in the Walmart parking lot at around 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, Fire Chief James Januse said.
A threatening note was resting on the bags, which were left in a carriage in the parking lot of the store on Paramount Drive.
The State Police Bomb Squad determined the bags contained clothing and were harmless.
Donovan said it appears the note was not intended to refer to the bags or be a bomb threat but accidentally ended up on top of the discarded clothing, which seems to have been dumped in the parking lot.
The store remained open but the entrance near the home and garden section was closed for about an hour until the situation was resolved.
The Bomb Squad has specialized equipment and was able to safely determine the contents posed no danger, Januse said.
"We weren't taking any chances," Januse said.
Donovan said the incident was "not at all connected" to a string of bomb threats at Walmart locations in the Midwest last summer.
The incident remains under investigation by Raynham police.