Collingwood and The Blue Mountains Ontario Provincial Police called in the bomb squad today after receiving a report of a suspicious package in the downtown area near town hall.
Police say the call came in at about 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 19 and the investigation lasted several hours. Ultimately, the OPP explosives disposal unit determined the package was not an explosive.
"It has been deemed as safe and Hurontario Street has reopened," stated a news release from police.
Officers did close Hurontario Street between Second and Third Streets to pedestrian and vehicular traffic until about 2 p.m. today (Dec. 19). Town hall went into a hold and secure this morning. Later in the afternoon, the town announced town hall would be closed for the rest of the day, and tonight's council meeting moved online.
Collingwood OPP spokesperson Const. Martin Hachey confirmed the suspicious package was not at town hall, but was nearby. It was called in by someone who found the package.
He said the "totality of the appearance" led officers to take the action of calling the explosive disposal unit, but couldn't specify further details about what the suspicious package looked like because of the ongoing investigation.
"The response may seem extreme, but we have to treat explosives as explosives until we learn otherwise," said Hachey, noting he was sorry for the inconvenience to holiday shoppers and business owners in the downtown core today.
In 2019, Collingwood OPP also shut down the same area of downtown at the end of December (Dec. 30) for what ended up being a "swatting" call. It involved someone falsely reporting a bank robbery situation, leading police to respond as though there were armed robbers at a downtown bank.
Hachey said today's incident doesn't appear to be swatting, noting it was called in by someone who remained at the scene for police to arrive.
"It doesn't have the characteristics of swatting," he said.
The police investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information on the incident can call Collingwood OPP at 1-705-445-4321, or report an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
