Staff and shoppers at Metrotown were allowed back into the food court and surrounding stores after a suspicious package was found in the food court earlier this afternoon.
According to Staff-Sgt. Major John Buis, mall administration evacuated part of the Burnaby shopping centre around noon today (April 19), after security found an unattended suitcase in the food court.
Buis said RCMP were later called in to investigate the suspicious suitcase and around 1 p.m., determined the suitcase was empty and not a threat.
Due to a "heightened state of security after the Boston bombings" police and mall security took the discovery of the unattended suitcase very seriously, Buis said.
The RCMP had previously reported that part of Metrotown was under lockdown after a suspicious package was reported.
At 12:30 p.m., the Burnaby RCMP posted to Twitter that police were on scene at Metrotown with Burnaby firefighters, investigating a suspicious package, and that an area within the mall was on lockdown pending a an EDU examination.
Dan Langelier was at the mall around noon to renew his driver's licence when he heard people running from the food court "yelling about a bomb threat."
Langelier was quickly evacuated by mall security, along with the other shoppers in the area.
By 1:15 p.m. mall security began allowing staff and tenants to return to their stores; shoppers were allowed back into the area shortly after.
