There was a bomb scare Monday morning at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland after a man came in off the street carrying a small, homemade explosive device that he said had been planted on his car.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad was immediately called to the scene and the courthouse was evacuated, as the East Bay Times reported. This all happened just after 9 a.m. Monday.
The building, as well as a stretch of Washington Street, were evacuated, and people in the Police Administration Building which sits directly across the street were told to shelter in place.
ABC 7 reports via the sheriff's office that the man who brought in the explosive device — which turned out to have been already detonated — was a "community member connected to a civil lawsuit." The man reportedly brought the device to a security checkpoint near the entrance to the courthouse, complaining that someone had planted it on his vehicle.
Sgt. Ray Kelly, spokesperson for the sheriff's office, told KPIX that the device was "a very crude homemade explosive that was about the size of a golf ball."
ACSO Bomb Squad at WWM Courthouse in Oakland for a very small homemade explosive device that was brought into the building by a community member connected to a civil lawsuit. Man claims device was previously planted on his car by someone. Scene is safe and no further threats.
— Alameda County Sheriff (@ACSOSheriffs) April 4, 2022
As of 10:26 a.m., the sheriff's office tweeted that the scene was deemed safe.
It is not clear if the man who brought the device was detained or further questioned.
Photo: Google Streetview
