Apparent Suspicious Package Dealt With in Toccoa Earlier Today

A suspicious package causes a stir in Toccoa, but it turns out to be harmless.

Toccoa Police Chief Tim Jarrell said that officers were called to the Armed Forces Career Center located at the Wal-Mart Shopping Center in Toccoa in the 11 a.m. hour Thursday.

“When we arrived, we were met by one of the recruiters who informed us that he had received a package in the mail, but the address was not the mailing address for the recruiting office, nor was it their post office box,” said Jarrell. “We found out that the address belonged to another business in the city, which the recruiter has no affiliation to whatsoever.”

Jarrell said that business was also not expecting a package.

In addition to all of that, Jarrell said there were questions about the return address.

“In addition to that, we were able to find out the person who the package had been sent from had a company name on there, but when you Googled the company name, the address was not the same and it was out of Utah,” said Jarrell.

Jarrell said all of the facts available to police raised enough red flags to consider this a suspicious package and act accordingly.

“The recruiter was not expecting a package, had not ordered a package from this business, has no affiliation whatsoever with this business, so there again, all of it became suspicious to us,” said Jarrell.

Police set up a perimeter, evacuating approximately nine businesses nearby and having vehicles moved from the adjacent parking lot.

However, business and parking at Wal-Mart was not affected.

Jarrell said that the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office sent its bomb-detecting K-9, which found nothing in any vehicles.

Then, Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb technicians arrived and inspected the device, determining it did not have explosives or a detonator.

“They opened the package and the contents were not of an explosive nature, nor were they anything related to a bomb,” said Jarrell. “Inside the package were two Pinewood Derby car kits.”

Jarrell said that no bomb threat was made to anyone and police are still investigating how and why the package ended up at the recruiting center.

He said police chose to exercise caution considering all the circumstances and he appreciates the understanding and cooperation of all the nearby businesses and customers that were affected.

“With the incidents that are going on nationwide, it heightened our awareness and we thought it would be best to approach this very cautiously,” said Jarrell.

Numerous agencies assisted the Toccoa Police Department, including Toccoa Fire, Stephens County EMS, Stephens County Emergency Management, the GBI, and the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office.

Jarrell said he appreciates all of the agencies that responded and assisted.

The “all clear” came after about 90 minutes, just before 1 p.m.