Evacuation lifted after bomb threat at Sacramento County human assistance building in midtown
One person was detained and a bomb squad deployed following a bomb threat Friday morning to a county government building in midtown Sacramento, sheriff’s officials said.
The building was cleared early Friday afternoon following searches by SWAT teams and a bomb squad, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Amar Gandhi said.
A man reportedly walked into the county Department of Human Assistance building near 28th and R streets with a backpack and “said he had a bomb,” Gandhi said just before 10:15 a.m. The incident began around 9:30 a.m.
The man was detained, but the backpack was still inside the building, Gandhi said. The building was being evacuated.
“He was mumbling things and acting a little suspicious, and then made a threat that he was carrying a bomb in his backpack,” Gandhi said.
Security officers quickly detained the suspect, whom the Sheriff’s Office identified as Ryan Marin, 34. Marin faces at least two felony charges for criminal threats.
The building and several adjacent structures were immediately evacuated following the threat. Roughly 400 county employees and another 150 clients were inside the office at the time, Gandhi said.
The all-clear was given after a search, Gandhi said just after 12:30 p.m.
SWAT officers and bomb squad personnel were inspecting the backpack using X-rays, but Gandhi said no device or explosives were found in the bag.
Q Street was closed at 28th Street, and 29th Street closed between Q and S streets, due to police activity.
The nearby Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op was also evacuated shortly after 10:30 a.m. Close to 100 people were inside the Co-Op at the time of the incident, spokeswoman Jolie Laudicina said.
“Our managers work really well together with safety concerns,” Laudicina said. “Even though we haven’t done this before.”
A county employee at the scene said Department of Human Assistance workers were instructed to work at other DHA offices or work from home.
Sacramento Regional Transit has a bus bridge in place between the 13th Street and Power Inn stations, due to police activity near the 29th Street Station, the agency said in a tweet just before 10:30 a.m.
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 10:38 AM.
