TEMPLE — Police closed both directions of 31st Street in Temple for several blocks after a refrigerator was left outside the Cricket Wireless store at the intersection of West Avenue M.
Sgt. Brad Hunt with Temple Police said the refrigerator had markings on it that indicated it contained a bio-hazard. He would not describe in detail what the markings looked like. Hunt said it was left there sometime overnight and that it was plugged in.
All businesses two blocks north and south of the Cricket Wireless were evacuated.
A team from the 79th Fort Hood Explosive Ordinance Company was called to the scene along with the McLennan County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad.
Travis Science Academy, Scott Elementary School, and the Dickson Campus, which includes administrative offices, the Temple Learning Center and Head Start, were placed on a soft lockdown at 11 a.m., according to Matthew LeBlanc with the Temple Independent School District.
Hunt said the department had every available officer, including detectives, in the area to secure the scene.
The bomb squad x-rayed the refrigerator and determined it was empty.
Temple PD said it is still unknown at the time who left the refrigerator.