Suspicious package blown up by bomb squad in east Santa Rosa

Sitting in an east Santa Rosa shopping center planter box, wrapped in black electrical tape, a suspicious package Wednesday prompted a bomb squad response, said a Santa Rosa police official.

The item turned out to be a fake - but a rather convincing one, Santa Rosa police Sgt. Jeneane Kucker said.

“Someone made this to look like a suspicious package. With recent events in England, even the bomb unit felt this was concerning,” Kucker said, referring to Monday night’s deadly explosion at a concert in Manchester, England.

Officers were called at 7:10 a.m. to Montgomery Village in east Santa Rosa and told the box had been seen in a planter for a few days, first tucked inside the vegetation and then shifted to a more prominent position, Kucker said.

The black box had an LED light inside, and officers requested deputies with bomb training to examine it. An X-ray showed computer components inside, Kucker said.

Officers blocked off the side alley of the center until about 8:30 a.m., analyzed it and then blew it up.

Kucker said such packages should be reported to police and shouldn’t be touched.