Around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday parts of the Communications building were evacuated and traffic was held up on a four-block section of St. Charles Avenue for more than two hours due to an unmarked box left on Temple Sinai’s doorstep.
Cantor Joel M. Colman, also a chaplain for the New Orleans Fire Department, noticed the suspicious package and immediately alerted his colleagues at the NOFD.
After looking at the unmarked package, the NOFD agreed that it was “definitely suspicious” and police were soon called in to investigate, according to Colman.
“They followed it right up the food chain,” Colman said.
A bomb squad detonated the package, which contained only magazines.
Despite the benign nature of the box, Colman said authorities took the right precautions.
“What they did was absolutely appropriate,” he said.
Jared Bailey can be reached at [email protected].
