August 14, 2008
Suspicious Package at McPherson Square
A suspicious package at 15th and K Streets NW has prompted police and hazardous materials responders to close off McPherson Square. The package in questions is reportedly some containers placed near a dumpster that appear to contain a chlorine-like substance. One reader tells us that fire trucks are lined up along 13th Street and that the MPD are clearing people out of the park. We'll update when we learn more. More: Current street closures due to the haz mat investigation are 15th and K St. NW; 14th and New York Ave. NW to Vermont Ave, to 15th St.; and, 15th and I St. NW.
Update: Kyle Gustafson visited the site and took some photos of the activity.
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"a chlorine-like substance" ... like water maybe?
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I feel that if DC doesn't have a suspicious package emergency at least once a week, someone isn't doing their job. Hopefully there aren't any other emergencies in the District since all forces are there.
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Suspicious containers with the words "Deer Park" printed on the side were found near the entrance of an office building Thursday morning...
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I work right there, and apparently someone was just shot too...
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Well, I WAS going to get a cookie at Pot Belly, but if there are suspicious packages and shootings, I'll just wait.
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@ icedespresso
In that case, I'll be waiting a LONG time.
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(It's been a long time since I've said this...)
I heard that Jim Graham is going to band McPherson Square now. A suspicious package and possible shooting in the same day!
Marion Barry is going to lead the council's investigation.
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I didn't hear any gunfire, but a sexual assault and a suspicious package within a block or so of one another in the same week is more than enough trouble.
Not to mention that about 930pm on last Friday night, I was walking near the northwest corner of K and 15th when plainclothes cops (with tactical vests) chasing a guy down the sidewalk at high speed ran right past me.
yikes.
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The WaPo is now saying its a 'bleach' scare.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081401594.html
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The shooting happened at the unit block of K, around 1st St. My building got the same erroneous initial report, though.
As for the situation, it's still a clusterfuck. Avoid K St. and I St., and forget about 15th St.
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Isn't it always best to avoid K Street during business hours anyway?
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I know, better safe than sorry.. but really this just seems to be some contractor trying to dispose of some hazwaste on the cheap.
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Oy. Well, at least if there wasn't a shooting we're in better shape.
But is it just me, or is this rather odd for the McPherson Square area...
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So very glad I didn't drive down this morning...between this and the shitstorm surrounding Metro Center, it might be 8pm before I got back to Rockville...
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Ref that fourth picture:
I like the neo-con sentiment expressed on the back of the fire truck: an American flag, bracketed by ¨KEEP BACK¨ in big bold letters.
Wouldn´t be surprised if DHS adopted that as their official seal.
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DCist needs "file footage" of crime scene tape and fire trucks so that no one has to go out in the summertime heat to take uninformative the next time one of these "incidents" arises.
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Hey westender, I'll take that sign over a communist flag with 'bienvenidos' written on it flying on our side of the Mexican border ... like many crazy liberals would prefer.
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It is because of fun things like this that no matter which party wins, I will not be in town for the week or so on either side of the inauguration in January. It was so much more pleasant last time around to watch the madness from a distance, and not be caught in the middle of it all.
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"like many crazy liberals would prefer."
OK, who had "17" as the number of comments it would take to turn a chlorine-related suspicious package scare into a xenophobic rant?
One of these days, we'll crack 10.
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Just got back from lunch over near there -- there's minimum 50 fire trucks and police cars there. Also, they evacuated all the hobos out of McPherson Sq and shipped them over to Franklin.
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seriously...50 fire truck and police cars for what now would appear to be some bleach containers improperly disposed of in an alleyway. this town never ceases to amaze.
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"This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions."
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Actually the political righteousness started at comment 15. Hey, you cracked the top 15, better than nothing!!
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My motorcycle is part of the quarantine! If I get a parking ticket for not feeding the meter today someone will pay!
...probably me...
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Hey Ian, what exactly do you mean 'Biblical'?
"Dogs and cats, living together ... MASS HYSTERIA"
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Rize, Just go take a picture of the general mess and if you get a ticket just submit a picture with an arrow saying "in here somewhere."
You'll be solid.
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C'mon, disaster-of-biblical-proportions!
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All clear ... 15th Street NW along McPherson Square is now open.
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From my vantage point, still looks like Vermont Avenue & I Street intersection (and the block of 15th Street on the west side of McPherson) are still closed.
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Let me get this straight...
Some guy assaulted a women by shooting at her with his suspicious package???
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While I understand the basic principle of "better safe than sorry," does this level of response make ANY kind of sense for the discovery a few abandoned containers with liquid in them? If it's not wired to explode, or being sprayed all over the area in some way, what possible way could this stuff have been dangerous enough to people in the surrounding area to require road closures, two dozen fire trucks, etc.? Is it really that hard to come up with variable levels of response depending on the "incident's" actual potential to cause harm?
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Actually the service roads make K St. quite navigable during business hours as hours. Fewer delivery trucks blocking entire lanes of traffic.
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@Nate: Yeah but then you wouldn't be able to drive around the cool Hazmat truck and play in the cool Hazmat bouncy castle-thing
Firemen get bored in August too, you know.
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Actually, Nate, I agree with you, but I'd be willing to bet this was a good opportunity for everyone to practice for a serious threat. Kind of like the evacuation practice they did for 4th of July. Not to mention, this is middle of the day, so they wouldn't be disturbing traffic flow too much (compared to rush hour)...
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Well, maybe they just look at it as "training"?
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Little known fact: the McPherson Square hobos urinate pure chlorine. I wonder if there's a connection?
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Couldn't they have just thrown the liquid in question on the homeless people to see if it was dangerous?
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What is a communist flag, exactly? They speak Spanish in Communist?
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Jesus, now that the situation's been resolved, it sounds even more ridiculous. It was seven buckets "that had once contained" a chlorine-based cleaner of some kind. Or in other words, SEVEN EMPTY BUCKETS.
Oh no, closing the street and sending a fleet of emergency vehicles wasn't an excessive response at all.
I suppose they can use the "training exercise" excuse for something like this, but that sounds a lot like post facto justification to me ... I'm guessing they really do have no sense of proportionality.
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"What is a communist flag, exactly? They speak Spanish in Communist?"
I don't know, but I'd be hesitant to raise the issue with someone who spews such vitriol at an otherwise unobtrusive act known as "registering".
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Try doing a google image search on "Communist Flag". That's what it looks like. You do realize that a flag doesn't have to be for a country, right? Thanks for trying to be 'Dantastically' clever, though!
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"I'm guessing they really do have no sense of proportionality."
Reminds me of when they shut down Haines Point for a period when they found an unattended backpack laying next to a tree.
But, cripes, look around at how the securitocracy has got a grip on this city. "Proportionality" doesn't begin to enter their lexicon.
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Uh oh! I've got a prominent local blogger making fun of my registration name ... oh nooooo!
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Did anyone else notice the emergency vehicle with the inflatable boat on top of it? What the hell are you going to do with a boat in the middle of the city? The overreaction of these guys to EVERY SINGLE "event" is getting ridiculous, not to mention how much it costs the city.
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"Uh oh! I've got a prominent local blogger making fun of my registration name"
Hey, thanks for calling me prominent! And here I've always thought of myself as a monkey with a typewriter.
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I totally want to get you all drunk together.
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Yes. Drinky good. Suspicious Package at McPherson Square is no where near as much fun as A suspicious package at dupont circle. especially that one time at annie's steak house when the drag queen bumped into me.... by mistake I'm sure...