BANGOR, Maine — A computer mouse turned out to be the cause of a three-hour shutdown of the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building late Friday afternoon, said Bangor police Lt. Steve Hunt.
The building was evacuated and locked down, as per standard police procedure, while officers inspected the building.
“Security was checking some packages that were being delivered through their X-ray machine and saw a package that looked suspicious,” said Hunt.
The Explosive Ordnance Device team was called in for a better look. The FBI also responded, but Bangor police were in charge.
“With the equipment that was available [to building security], it was of a suspicious nature and precautions were taken,” said Hunt. “[When we] got some better equipment [on the scene], we confirmed that it was a common delivery.”
The package was a computer tracking mouse that was ordered by U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s office, said Hunt.
“We felt it was the right call based on the equipment [the building security] had,” said Hunt. “These days you can’t be too careful, I guess.”
Greg Comcowich, special agent and spokesman for the Boston Division of the FBI, which also covers Maine, commended Bangor police.
“The bottom line is the Bangor police did a stellar job,” said Comcowich. “They did a great job helping us in making sure the building was safe.”
BDN writer Ryan McLaughlin contributed to this report.
tallen:
byline:abarber
Go ahead and blow up your lunch….
….
anything to get out of work early on a friday
It was a gift from an adult toy store. No one wanted to claim it or dared to claim it in front of coworkers
Anybody know the name of the FBI ASAC in the Bangor office?
From other news reports this afternoon, lots of people around the country have been sent suspicious letters with a harmless white powder, with threats that the real stuff will follow. Even Jon and Stephen both got one.
I am only surprised that this does not happen many times in many places each and every day.
Computer mouse? Really? The Feds spent how much on this? Oh wait they probably didn’t get a bill for this.
Too good for an ordinary computer mouse? Look how expensive this thing turned out to be!
The mouse that roared!
Large elephant scared by mouse.
Those mice get into everything!
And they couldn’t identify the package as something ordered by the senator’s office through a tracking number? This wasn’t an unsolicited delivery . . .
Well, the bomb squad needed practice.
That would be one expensive mouse !
Brilliant,
Absolutely Brilliant!
I think that yes there is such a thing as being too careful these days and this is a perfect example of it.
When will this madness stop???
Good thing it wasn’t a computer moose. They’d still be trying to identify it.
This was the biggest joke of the day, Maine is so far behind the times we can’t even protect our court houses?
Lol, they’re getting bored, they needed something to do.
“Suspicious packages” located next door at the neighbors… DIAMONDS.
Someone called in a bomb threat so everyone could walk off early for the strip club grand opening next door.
Wow, the BDN and you namby-pamby flaggers are rough…
11 years later. Trillions of dollars spent. An American economy nearly reduced to rubble. Basic freedoms given away in the name of security. Bin Laden killed and dumped in the ocean.
And he’s still got us quaking in our boots. The war on terror is long over. And we lost.
Wrong on most counts with the exception of the freedoms given up. The war on terror, far from being ‘long over’, will likely not be finsihed in my lifetime. Bin Laden does not have us quaking in our boots rather he woke us up from the naivete that we are invulnerable and showed us that we need to take precautions. I’ll give you that calling the FBI for a computer mouse may not be the best example. Lastly, the ecomony is not in tatters because of the war on terror…..it is in tatters because out-of-control domestic spending by a bureaucracy that has grown way too large.
See something. Say something.
I wonder if it ever occurred to anyone to ask the office to which the package was addressed, if they were expecting anything?
That’s asking alot from government employees isn’t it??
Wow! they blocked off those streets downtown for a computer mouse……..
over reaction to explain the improper use of wasted tax payer monies…sigh
More fear, more wasted resources, another small victory for the terrorists.
terrorists??? Yes our government has put fear in the people once again… Now they can take away more of your rights..
thank goodness the Chicago Police were not called in to investigate.
February 24, 2012
http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/5146552-Jury-will-hear-Chicago-police-code-of-silence-claim/
Jury will hear Chicago police ‘code of silence’ claim
Bartender Karolina Obrycka filed a 2007 lawsuit over an altercation at Jesse’s Shortstop Inn
Bye- geezes, be very afraid …..
of a computer mouse !
Jump up on chair and lock it down… JUST LIKE A PRISON.
Yes, sah, you can just do it.
Fine.
Noted, but …
BUT … “The package was a computer tracking mouse that was ordered by U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s office, said Hunt. ….. ”
Give our best interest and common sense a break !!!!
Security is is NOT a productive business. … despite Mr. Chaney’s best efforts.
“…. The building was evacuated and locked down, as per standard police procedure, while officers inspected the building.”
BUT SIR, IT WAS JUST A MOUSE.
and I could NOT be more serious.
Officer, but it is just a mouse…. call Sen. Snowe’s office and use THE CODE-WORD: ” common sense”, then ask is this YOUR mouse , PLEASE !
GIVE US … the USA … A BREAK !!!!
Enough already.
Zero in on zero tolerance !!!!!
I am so very tired of “zero tolerance” in MY AMERICA.
$10,000 later, a dangerous “computer tracking mouse” has been successfully destroyed. (Note to self: when ordering anything, insist on FedEx)
What exactly is a computer tracking mouse? Does it “track” down dangerous rogue computers or what?
Was it wireless :)
Really? What could they have thought it was ? Is more training needed? Do they need people with better eyesight? What a waste of time and resources. Good training for everyone for the event of a real crisis. Next time, just go to Staples and buy a mouse.
How do you spell O-V-E-R–R-E-A-C-T-I-O-N?
Just like that :-)
The picture where the caption says “spectators gather…” is not of spectators. It is of City employees that were not allowed to go to our cars at the end of the day. Glad that everything turned out OK.
So next time they should call all of you that think they over reacted and you can bring it to your house and open it.
Maybe this will get them to buy some better equipment, can’t take too many of these to pay for it. Or maybe the feds should store their good equipment at the federal building instead of having it sit in a van most days waiting for something like this.
Just heros doing there job
It’s all good training, I guess. At least they didn’t blow up a peanut butter sandwich. (What have the terrorists done to us!)
Had it occurred to anybody that it’s a relief that it was only a computer mouse that caused all of this hub-bub? A lot of these comments that I read appear to be an over reaction to an after the fact perceived non-event. Isn’t it better that precautions are taken until the situation is evaluated and eventually resolved? No one gets angry or hyper-critical when a fire alarm is pulled, and a school is evacuated, and the fire and police department responds. I would dare to say that more often than not it is learned that the fire alarm was pulled intentionally as to create a nuisance. But still there is a response because of the concern for the safety of the students and faculty, and then the school is inspected to verify the safety of the building. The situation that occurred at the federal building is no different. Cliche or not, it is better to be safe than sorry. I suspect that much was learned from what happened yesterday, and the knowledge that was garnered as a result, will have a positive impact on how future, similar situations are handled. Also, let’s hear it for Bangor’s First Responders. Based on the comments I read following this article, it would seem that they have a thankless task. However, I for one, am relieved that the city is proactive in assuring the safety of its citizens. Well done, to the men and women who serve.
I bet Snow is rethinking buying things from Amazon from now on.
How hard is it to make sure a building is safe when there was nothing dangerous in the first place?
How exactly would you muff a public safety situation when nothing threatening is there?
THIS, in a building named after Margaret Chase Smith, a person who epitomized the very idea of freedom and courage.
Bangorian has it right….Bin Laden won in a landslide.
Ok you ready???Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahah,gasp,Bwahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!
“These days you can’t be too careful, I guess.”
I’d have thought the whole news story was about what being too careful means. ‘Too careful’ by definition means a level of carefulness beyond what is necessary or rational for safety.
Are you sure your diatribe was intended for my post? I have had the same handle on these forums since I signed up. I also only maintain the one handle, JC04401. Your condescension is not appreciated nor required. My comments had nothing to do with any sort of public relations scheme.
I was merely trying to include my comments in a more positive, uplifting manner than what I had read in this forum up until my post. If you want to read more into it than what it was, well, that’s on you.
BTW, don’t think that the irony of your comment about PR was lost on me, after all you used my post to publicize a documentary that you helped to make.
you give up your freedoms for safety now you have neither.
Our government has made so many enemies, they have become paranoid..
Now they are trying to figure out how to invade a few more oil rich countries, all the while Obama stopped a oil pipeline from being built here in this country. I guess there is no money to be made by the industrial war machine if common sense is used.
You mean a chemical sludge tar sands pipeline.
2400 man hours to do a 3800 page report on this one. all in triplicate.. (-:
Who would even care to bomb a place like Bangor when there are more important cities in this country? Not that I would condone such an act but usually terrorists or activists find important targets. Not some backwoods hill folk town like Bangor. ha ha For example the terrorists during 9/11 were said to have passed through Maine. They were not only in the US but passed through Maine and didn’t raise one finger to do anything. Nobody is going to bomb a place that nobody cares about. There’s nothing here of any real importance.