A bomb scare prompted the evacuation of the Israeli Consulate offices in Los Angeles.
Several other Jewish organizations in the same building at 6380 Wilshire Blvd. also were evacuated.
A “very suspicious” package was found Tuesday at about 2:45 p.m. PST near the entrance of the 17-story building, which also houses the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Israeli Scouts and the local Young Judea offices, according to Hagar Meged, the Jewish Agency’s aliyah emissary in Los Angeles. It proved to be a false alarm.
Ten police cars and a SWAT team arrived at the building to investigate.
According to the Los AngelesPolice, a student backpack was found next to a tree planter in the building adjoining the consulate offices. Police evacuated adjoining buildings, and, on inspection, found that the backpack contained only personal items.
The evacuation of about 60 persons at the consulate lasted 90 minutes and went smoothly. LAPD officer Jason Lee said no threats had been received and that “some people will phone in anything these days.”
Meged said the evacuation was orderly, but “it was kind of scary to leave everything in the middle of the day.”
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