A large area of downtown Baltimore was evacuated on Monday after a van filled with 1,000 gallons of gasoline was found in a parking garage — just days before President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the city.
President Trump will be attending the 2019 House Republican Conference Member Retreat in the city on Thursday, less than one mile from where the van was found.
Police have confirmed that there was no bomb inside the vehicle.
Sources say the suspicious material inside a vehicle in a parking garage in downtown Baltimore are containers of gasoline pic.twitter.com/uzEr3DEP6P
— Jayne Miller (@jemillerbalt) September 9, 2019
A search by a police robot turned up a device used for stealing diesel fuel.
When a police robot searched the van in Baltimore, "it found a device for stealing diesel fuel and two bins full of possibly-stolen gasoline." pic.twitter.com/fiPw2SGe7W
— Steve Lookner (@lookner) September 9, 2019
Police were called to the parking garage of 100 E. Pratt St., where the T. Rowe Price office is, around 11 a.m. on Monday morning about the suspicious vehicle.
“After several hours of investigating a suspicious vehicle, no bomb was detected,” Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young tweeted. “We are currently in the process of conducting precautionary sweeps in an effort to ensure public safety. These sweeps are expected to take several hours.”
Mayor Young asked that people remain outside the evacuated area and find alternate transportation to get home. He said that he will send out an update when people are able to pick up their vehicles.
Again, we want to ensure everyone remains safe as we work through this matter.
The evacuated areas are:
East Baltimore Street to the north
Conway Street to the south
South Charles Street to the west
Commerce Street to the east pic.twitter.com/kYtnW8O2ZE— Mayor Bernard C. Jack Young (@mayorbcyoung) September 9, 2019
No motive or explanation for the vehicle has been announced at this time.
The city police are being assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
All kinds of agencies on the scene in #Baltimore investigating the latest on this suspicious white van found in a parking garage with 1,000 gallons of gasoline @wbalradio pic.twitter.com/vWh9x4lF2C
— Phil Yacuboski (@WBALPhil) September 9, 2019
You may want to avoid downtown #Baltimore today. A bunch of streets are shut down because apparently they found a van filled with gasoline. pic.twitter.com/nWEEFtrrve
— Lizzy Unger (@Lizzy_Unger) September 9, 2019
We will update this story as more information becomes available.