Downtown Louisville streets, businesses should reopen soon as 'suspicious package' is moved

A "suspicious package" found downtown Friday morning and investigated by Louisville Metro Police has been deemed safe to transport, according to Chief Erika Shields, and nearby streets and businesses should be allowed to reopen in the early afternoon.

In an update at about 12:30 p.m., Shields said police were still running tests on the package – a "pipe with wires protruding from it," department spokeswoman Angela Ingram had said – but that a shelter-in-place order that had been put in place throughout the area would hopefully be lifted soon. The FBI would eventually take over the investigation, she said.

The device was found on Fifth Street near Jefferson and Market streets, LMPD said. Police had advised the public to avoid the area, and advised people in buildings near the site to remain in place.

Ayanne Cooney works at Melba's Culinary Canvas, a breakfast and lunch restaurant at the corner of Fifth and Jefferson streets. She went outside to talk to a police officer at about 8:30 a.m., she said, when she was alerted to the danger.

"It’s a surreal feeling," she said, a few minutes after 1 p.m. "I’m honestly not sure quite yet what to think of it. It was kind of a little exciting, but scary at the same time."

LMPD's latest recruit class was set to have a graduation ceremony Friday morning at Metro Hall, which is in the area, but that has been rescheduled "out of an abundance of caution," the department said.

"An abbreviated ceremony is taking place" instead, the release said.

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This story will be updated.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville police close downtown streets due to suspicious device