Hoax Bomb at Metro Station Snarls Downtown Los Angeles Traffic

Los Angeles, CA —An apparent hoax explosive device left at downtown Metro Los Angeles station brought downtown traffic to a crawl. Now, as surrounding roadways reopen, investigators are working to determine who is behind the malicious prank.

“It does appear to be a hoax device,” said Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ramon Montenegro. “It gridlocked the middle of the city for several hours.”

The unattended package shut down a downtown Metro Los Angeles station as well as Harbor (110) Freeway north- and southbound on- and off-ramps at Sixth and Seventh streets, snarling downtown traffic for hours, while the LAPD bomb squad investigated.

At about 5 p.m., the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Arson-Explosives Unit set off a series of detonations to contain the device, so that it could be examined.

Authorities were called at around 2:20 to the Seventh and Metro Center station after a report of an unattended package, Montenegro said. The station was closed and the Red and Purple line trains were forced to bypass the station.

Anyone with information about the incident should call investigators at 888-950-SAFE.

Just heard #bombsquad yell out "fire in the hole" just before a small explosion near #7th/Metro Center in #DTLA.
— Justin Ramirez (@JustinLBC) July 7, 2016

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