Bladensburg’s scheduled Town Council meeting was cut short Monday due to a bomb scare.

Sgt. Tracy Stone of the Bladensburg Police Department said that a briefcase was left in the lobby of the town post office, which is across the street from the Town Hall, and a post office employee set the briefcase outside when the office closed.

“Around 6:30 p.m. a citizen called the Bladensburg police department to report that they had heard a ticking sound coming from the briefcase,” Stone said. “We immediately closed the block and evacuated the nearby buildings.”

Stone said the 4300 block Edmonston Road was closed for about an hour and a half until the Bladensburg Fire Department was able to clear the area.

“We immediately called the fire department and they came to X-ray the briefcase,” Stone said. “It turns out the only thing in the brief case was a typewriter. No one was injured though, and that is the important part.”

The owner of the briefcase has not yet been located, Stone said.

Town Clerk Pat McAuley said the council was able to get almost all of its work done before the evacuation.

“There was nothing new on the agenda so a lot of work was still able to get done before the council had to evacuate,” she said. “There will probably not be any need to reschedule the council meeting.”

McAuley also said the council was pleased with how the authorities handled the situation.

“Everything was done in a calm and orderly fashion,” McAuley said. “The council was grateful to the fire and police departments for their efforts.”

ngallagher@gazette.net