West Town Street near South Gift Street reopened Tuesday afternoon after a suspicious package, which police later determined was a science project.
The Columbus Bomb Squad responded to an apartment building, located in the 500 block of West Town Street, shortly after 3 p.m. after a man working for a cable company reported a man inside of an apartment with what appeared to be a bomb.
The scare prompted the closure of South Gift Street, between West Town and State streets, for about an hour.
A number of intersections also were closed because of the incident.
Residents in the man's apartment building were evacuated.
Investigators said that they determined the package was not a threat and actually was a science project created by a man studying electronics for an online course.
Columbus police Capt. Steve Saltsman said that the package initially looked like three sticks of dynamite with wires sticking out of it.
"So, until our guys got into it and do the assessment and look at it and actually take it apart, they won't be sure," Saltsman said. "So, absolutely, we treat this as dynamite, and as you see, the evacuations were based upon if it was real."
Police said that the man would not be charged.
The names of those involved were not immediately released.
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