San Francisco’s City Hall and a courthouse were evacuated this morning and surrounding streets were shut down after three suspicious packages were found outside, police said.
Two of the packages were determined to be harmless, and the third was still under investigation, police said.
One of the packages was a small suitcase that contained clothing.
The bomb technician who opened it removed his helmet and handed the suitcase to a uniformed officer, who carried it away.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the other two items were.
The packages were found at three separate points outside City Hall about 7.10am (3.10pm Irish Time) said Eileen Hirst, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department, which provides security inside the building.
People were allowed to return to San Francisco Superior Court less than three hours later.
City Hall remained shut down.