Police Check Suspicious Backpack At Downtown's Criminal Courthouse

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police investigated a backpack that was found in front of the downtown criminal courts building, but it was found to be harmless.

City News Service reports that police cleared streets around Temple Street and Broadway at midmorning Tuesday, and a bomb squad has been summoned to examine the item.

Law enforcement has been on alert for potential reprisals since the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden and are urging citizens to report anything suspicious.

On Monday, a Metrolink commuter train was evacuated in Riverside because a backpack had been left in a restroom, and in San Diego debris suspected of being a pipe bomb shut down the Coronado Bay Bridge for a time. Both items turned out to be harmless.

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