A suspicious package that was brought into a UPS Store in Oakland on Wednesday evening prompted authorities to evacuate two dormitories and shut down a nearly four-block stretch of Forbes Avenue, according to a university spokesman.
A clerk at the UPS Store in the 3900 block of Forbes contacted Pittsburgh police at about 6:40 p.m. after the contents of the package did not match the description provided by the man who brought it in, said Ken Service, Pitt's vice chancellor of communications.
“The man who brought it in said it contained papers, but the clerk heard what he thought was a metallic item rolling around in it,” Service said.
University officials ordered Bruce and Brackenridge halls to be evacuated. Many of the 220 students who left the buildings went to the William Pitt Student Union, Service said.
Police shut down Forbes Avenue between Bigelow Boulevard and South Bouquet Street, Service said.
Pittsburgh police and FBI bomb technicians determined that the package contained “scientific material” and was not a danger, Service said.
The street was reopened and students were allowed to return to their dorms at about 9:30 p.m., he said.
