Police investigation into suspicious package forced closure, evacuation in Barrie

Suspicious package investigation in Barrie Barrie police closed a busy business area and evacuated buildings after reports of a suspicious package.

Cedar Pointe Drive in Barrie was closed, and several nearby buildings were evacuated on Wednesday for a police investigation.

Police closed Cedar Pointe Drive from Dunlop Street to Edgehill Drive Wednesday morning to investigate the situation.

"Businesses in the Cedar Pointe Drive area are impacted by this closure and will remain closed until further notice," the service stated in a post on social media.

Emergency crews, including the bomb squad, attended the scene after police said there was a report about a suspicious object left at a business in the area.

"Barrie Police learned that the package was actually monitoring equipment that been placed at the location earlier in the morning," a release issued Wednesday afternoon stated.

"The difficulty was, nobody knew [what it was]. So, the measured and appropriate response was undertaken by Barrie police, and the evacuation went very, very smoothly," explained Peter Leon, Barrie police corporate communications coordinator. "We called for a City of Barrie transit bus to provide some assistance given the warm temperatures. There were some seniors in the area, and they needed to be removed, so an air-conditioned bus was brought in for their comfort."

The situation was cleared shortly after noon, and businesses were given the okay to reopen.