San Francisco’s Union Square was shut down on Thursday as police investigated a suspicious device at Market and Fourth, but was later re-opened at 1:45 p.m.
The square was evacuated, and a one-block radius around the square has been shut down to vehicles and pedestrians.
“Avoid the area of Union Square due to police activity. All businesses facing Union Square - use back doors or shelter in place,” said officials via Twitter.
A suspicious item was found near a tent set up for the Nike Women’s Marathon packet pick-up, reported ABC.
The cable car system and buses were re-routed.
At 1:45 p.m. PDT, the city’s Department of Emergency Management said the square has been re-opened.
Juan Carlos Guerrero of ABC reported that police located the suspicious backpack and that it did not have explosives.
The San Francisco Police Department said that there was “no merit” to the suspicious device.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
