Downtown Zanesville is safe to travel after the Franklin County Bomb Squad was called to help investigate several suspicious items located between the Muskingum County Courthouse and the Zanesville Public Safety and Municipal Court Building.

“It looks to be, at this point, like it might be several unrelated incidents… that, since they happened in close proximity and close in time, that we all rolled them into one and it ends up they weren’t really related afterall,” said Captain Chris Phipps of the Zanesville Police Department.

According to Phipps, a BOLO was issued around 2:30 p.m. for law enforcement to keep an eye out for a suspicious person.

Around the same time, Phipps said a Muskingum County Commissioner reported a person behaving suspiciously around a trash can near the courthouse.

By the time the Zanesville police and fire departments arrived on scene, the person was gone, but a box was found nearby.

A bomb-sniffing dog alerted authorities to its odor.

Several items were also found to be suspicious, so Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz issued a sweep of the area between the courthouse and public safety building.

The Franklin County Bomb Squad was called in to assist with the investigation.

With the use of a robot, some of the items were detonated on Fourth Street by the Muskingum County Jail.

Phipps said the initial item inside the box turned out to be an electronic “speaking Bible.”

“There’s things that can cause a false alert, and sometimes electronics can do that,” said Phipps.

The box was X-rayed and inspected using the robot before it was determined to be non-explosive.

“At this time, there does not appear to be any further threat, not that there was really much of one to begin with, apparently,” said Phipps. “But, we’d rather be safe than sorry. Everybody’s safety is always our number one concern.”

Roads have now reopened Downtown. No arrests were made.

Assisting the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad was the Zanesville Police Department, Zanesville Fire Department, Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Muskingum County Emergency Management Agency and Genesis Community Ambulance.