Suspicious package prompts 3-hour closure of downtown Metro stop and detours for train riders

A suspicious package at the 7^th Street/Metro Center train stop in downtown Los Angeles forced authorities to shut down the station for more than three hours and reroute some trains, delaying riders during the Monday evening commute.

Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the station found the package about 6:30 p.m. in a trash can near the train platform, according to Ramon Montenegro, a spokesman for the sheriff’s unit that polices Metro lines.

An explosive-sniffing dog surveyed the scene and got a “positive hit” on the package, prompting deputies to call in the Sheriff’s Department’s bomb squad, Montenegro said.

Shortly before 10 p.m., the bomb squad detonated the item, but the contents of the package were unclear, according to Metro spokesman Paul Gonzales. Investigators later deemed the station safe from any explosive.

The 7^th Street/Metro Center train stop had been closed to patrons but was reopened by 10:30 p.m., according to Metro.

During the station’s closure, Metro used buses to connect riders to other stations.

The red and purple lines were traveling through the station without stopping, Gonzales said.

The blue and expo lines were stopping at the Pico station, where a bus was transporting them to Grand Avenue and Pershing Square.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

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UPDATES:

10:30 p.m.: The story was updated with details on officials detonating the package and reopening the Metro station.

The story was originally published at 8:55 p.m.