Suspicious package prompts homes and businesses to be evacuated in Montreal

MONTREAL -- After a suspicious package was noticed, residences and businesses were evacuated for several hours Saturday night in Montreal.

A 911 call alerted police to the presence of the suspicious package in an alley between Berri and Saint-Denis streets, near Place Emilie-Gamelin in the Ville-Marie borough.

"At approximately 12:15 a.m., the Groupe tactique d'intervention (GTI) robot neutralized the suspicious package and analysis of the debris determined that the package posed no threat," said Montreal police (SPVM) spokesperson constable Caroline Chevrefils.

Before discovering the package posed no danger, emergency services were taking no chances.

Police officers, firefighters and ambulance attendants were dispatched to the scene, as well as the ERT and a forensic identification technician from the SPVM.

De Maisonneuve Blvd. was closed to traffic during the intervention, between Berri and Saint-Denis streets.

The area was reopened to traffic around 1:15 a.m. Sunday.

"There are no suspects at this time and the investigation is ongoing," said Chevrefils.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 20, 2021.