All safe: Market Basket in Seabrook evacuated after pressure cooker found in parking lot

Angeljean Chiaramida
·2 min read

SEABROOK — The Market Basket South shopping center was shut down for almost two hours Tuesday morning while local and state police investigated and removed a suspicious package reported by a concerned bystander.

According to Deputy Police Chief Kevin Gelineau, the department received a call at 10:53 a.m. from a customer who pulled in to shop at the 380 Lafayette Road retail center, and saw a suspicious package left unattended between cars in the parking lot. Seabrook police responded immediately, he said.

“Out of an abundance of caution we responded, cleared the area and called in the state police’s explosives disposal unit to X-ray the package,” Gelineau said. “It turned out to be a pressure cooker. It was empty; there was nothing in it.”

The Market Basket South shopping center was shut down for almost two hours Tuesday morning while local and state police investigated and removed a suspicious package
The Market Basket South shopping center was shut down for almost two hours Tuesday morning while local and state police investigated and removed a suspicious package

Gelineau said both Market Basket and the store next to it – The Paper Store – where evacuated and closed as a precaution. Officers, he said, also cleared people out of the parking lot.

'A year like no other': Here are Seacoast's 11 highest priced homes sold in 2021: Which was No. 1?

“We’ve had these incidents before and that’s really the best way to handle these situations to make sure everyone remains safe,” Gelineau said.

The explosive devices used in the Boston Marathon bombing of April 15, 2013, were homemade pressure cooker bombs made and detonated by two domestic terrorists, brothers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The explosions near the finish line of the marathon injured hundreds and killed three people.

Gelineau said police took the package into custody, are interviewing witnesses and pulling all surveillance tapes from the shopping center’s stores for review as they continue the investigation into how and why the package was left in the lot.

'Exeter is ready for this': Street restaurant to open a location at former Blue Moon site

According to Gelineau, by about 1 p.m., the shopping center reopened for business and the public was allowed back in.

Gelineau commended the individual who called in the report.

“This is a great example of ‘see something, say something,'” Gelineau said. “We’re very grateful to the person who called in the suspicious package. We’re glad it was called in and that we could respond to ensure the public’s safety.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Market Basket in Seabrook NH evacuated after suspicious package found