San Marcos Police Department, San Marcos Fire Department, Austin PD Bomb Squad Investigate Suspicious Item

San Marcos police and firefighters were called out to 1701 Mill Street at 5:30 p.m. July 9 regarding a suspicious package.

San Marcos Police and Fire, the Austin Police Department Bomb Squad, and the Union Pacific Railroad investigated a suspicious item on the railroad tracks behind Copper Beech Apartments on Mill Street Monday evening.

The item was ultimately determined to be harmless, but it interfered with rail traffic and caused the evacuation of nearby apartment buildings.

San Marcos police and firefighters were called out to 1701 Mill Street at 5:30 p.m. July 9 regarding a suspicious package. The caller, a resident of Copper Beech Apartments who had found the object, led officers and firefighters to the item.

The object’s appearance and placement merited additional examination, and SMPD contacted the Austin Police Department Bomb Squad and Union Pacific Railroad.

As a precaution, apartment building #24 at Copper Beech was evacuated, as well as an apartment at 1640 Post Road.

The APD Bomb Squad and UPRR Police arrived at 7:23 p.m. and set up a command post nearby. At 10:13 p.m., the bomb squad rendered the object safe and reopened the tracks for rail traffic.

The item was found in an area commonly used for illegal dumping. San Marcos Police will follow up on any leads or additional information they receive about the item or whomever put it there or dumped it.

Police are releasing no additional details about the object to preserve the integrity of any additional witness information SMPD may receive.