Police blow up suspicious package found by church security guard
BATON ROUGE La May 21 2020 – Police detonated a suspicious package at a local church that had recently been hit by an arsonist.
The Baton Rouge Police Department says officers were called to Broadmoor Methodist Church after a security guard spotted the package around 9 p.m. in the church parking lot. The department said a team was called in to detonate the package around midnight.
A BRPD spokesperson says the apparent threat was ultimately determined to be a hoax but could not immediately provide further details.
The same church was set on fire twice in April. Investigators questioned a teenager in relation to the apparent arsons, but no arrest was made.
City-parish records show seven fires have been reported in that same block of Mollylea Drive since January. All were reported at the same two addresses, the church and a house that is now abandoned. The cause remains undetermined in the other five fires reported earlier this year.
The church said in a statement Tuesday that the guard who found the package had been hired to patrol the area because of the fires.
Police returned to the church and neighborhood late Tuesday night, once again investigating reports of suspicious activity.
WBRZ
