Suspicious Device Blown Up at Grants Pass Bank

Oregon State Police bomb techs blew up a suspicious device at Wells Fargo bank in downtown Grants Pass this morning.

Bank employees reported at 8:30 a.m. a black box with wires coming out of it left in a disabled parking spot near the bank. A robot was used to place explosives near the microwave-sized device, which was blown up twice at 10:36 a.m. and 10:38 a.m.

Every business with windows on Sixth Street between E and F streets was evacuated as a precaution.

Bank employees were allowed back into the building at 10:45 a.m. after the device was discovered to be an audio speaker box left by accident and not intended as a threat to the bank. Downtown traffic that had been blocked has returned to normal.

OSP reports that protocols have changed to be far more cautious following the death of an OSP bomb tech and a police officer at a bank in Woodburn last month. Believing a suspicious package to be a hoax, the bomb tech attempted to remove the device's lid while a police captain held it. Both died and the city's police chief was critically wounded. A bank employee suffered minor injuries. A father and son have been charged in that case, which police believe to have been a robbery attempt.

News10's Carolyn Carver was at the scene this morning and more information and video will be coming soon.