A suspicious package resulted in the closure of State Route 77 in Snowflake for more than five hours last week.
At 12:43 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19, the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department received a call reporting a suspicious package on the north side of Dollar General, located at 1967 S. Main St. in Snowflake.
Officers responded and were shown the package found by a Dollar General employee. Protocol was initiated, establishing a safety zone requiring evacuation of buildings in the area, including George Washington Academy. The Snowflake Unified School District provided buses to take children to a safe location in Snowflake.
Roadblocks were immediately set up, detouring traffic coming south from Snowflake down Rodeo Road south of Snowflake Junior High School west to Centennial Blvd. Traffic going north detoured west on Casa Linda Drive to Centennial Blvd.
Explosive Ordinance Disposal was called and responded, and determined the package was not a threat.
At approximately 5:15 p.m., the all clear was given and the road was reopened.
The police department received numerous inquiries regarding the traffic detour off of Main Street, and citizens were advised on the STPD Facebook page that George Washington Academy had been safely evacuated per protocol. Department officials assured citizens that the rumor of a gunman at the school was completely unfounded.
The STPD was assisted by the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the public works departments of Snowflake and Taylor, and Taylor-Snowflake Fire & EMS Department.
“We would also like to thank the citizens of our great community for their patience during the incident and their support in our efforts as we follow protocol in keeping our community safe,” STPD officials said via Facebook.
