Medford Mall Evacuated For Pressure Cooker Found Outside

Medford Fire Deputy Chief Steve Howe said the Meadow Glen Mall was evacuated around 12:15 p.m. Saturday after a report of a suspicious device found outside the mall.

It turned out the device was a pressure cooker but the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad determined it was not a bomb, Howe said.

Pressure cookers were allegedly used for both bombs in the Boston Marathon bombings April 15.

Howe said once he got on he saw the device leaned up against a clothing deposit box outside the mall. From there he requested more units to the scene and the state police bomb squad.

The mall was evacuated as well as the parking lot, Locust Street was shut down and authorities began the process of shutting down Route 16, Howe said, "in a timely fashion."

State police utilized their robot on the device and were able to determine it wasn't a bomb and Howe said the mall was back to normal operations within an hour of the original call.

Howe said he took the pressure cooker from the scene himself after state police said there was "no use" in trying to lift any kind of fingerprints off it.