Three suspicious packages delivered to a judge’s office at the Elk County Courthouse on Wednesday were deemed a false alarm by authorities, who say the sender has been identified and will not be facing charges.
Officer Shawn Geci of Ridgway Borough Police said the packages, containing paper materials and lollipops, were delivered to court administrator Martha Masson’s office on Wednesday morning. The nature of the paper materials included was not immediately clear.
Masson said her office received the delivery around 11 a.m. and that suspicions were raised due to the number of mailings, their heft, similarity and appearance.
“They were heavy and one had a lumpiness to it,” she said of the packages, described by her as mailing envelopes.
Masson said the lack of a return address also further stoked concerns.
Geci told The Era the envelopes were addressed to a judge, whose name did not match any of those on file in Pennsylvania, and not to President Judge Richard A. Masson, whose courtroom sits just down the hall from the administrator’s office. The identity of the judge named on the package could not be confirmed by The Era.
The sender was, however, identified by police as a female borough resident in her 60s, with a “disability.”
Geci said authorities, using postmarked information found on the packages, were able to trace them to a borough post office where they were mailed a day earlier. He confirmed the packages included no return address.
Working off descriptions provided by postal clerks, Geci said he was able to identify the sender and track her down.
In a meeting, Geci said he confirmed the packages’ contents with the woman as harmless, and determined she lacked “malicious intent” in sending them, meaning no criminal charges will be filed against her. He again referenced her reported “disability.”
As a result of no charges being filed, her name has not been released.
The discovery of the packages placed the courthouse on high alert Wednesday morning, but did not lead to an evacuation of the Main Street building.
Court was in session at the time, with a visiting judge from Warren County presiding, Masson recalled.
Masson said the visiting judge was “apprised of the situation and we opted not to evacuate,” adding “We did make some provisions to keep people away from the parking lot because the packages were secured (by authorities) in a vehicle … we (also) alerted people to stay away from windows.”
Masson said the decision not to evacuate was based on the packages being secured outside, “we believed far enough away from the building,” she added.
Acting sheriff Theresa Merritt, whose department is located in the courthouse, was among the first notified of the situation.
She said the parcels were taken outside of the building for safekeeping as back-up was called.
Merritt said a state police bomb squad was summoned, but that based on earlier X-rays of the package revealing no incendiary device, and Ridgway officers confirming the contents with the sender, the bomb squad was called off and a local HAZMAT team called in instead.
The package was then opened in a secured parking lot outside the courthouse, Merritt said, just to be sure and safe, she explained.
During that time, all vehicles were cleared from the parking lot and a nearby intersection cordoned off.
The incident which began around 11 a.m. was over by 2 p.m., she added.
