Baltimore police discovered a van loaded with 1,000 gallons of gasoline Monday morning and are evacuating several office buildings from the Inner Harbor — where emergency officials are urging people to stay away, city council members confirmed.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting Baltimore police on the scene.
A police spokesperson said they received a call at 11:02 a.m. about a suspicious van and began evacuating 100 E. Pratt St., which houses T. Rowe Price and and global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Baltimore Police Col. Sheree Briscoe told City Council members that they are evacuating a four-block radius around 100 East Pratt St. and are asking the community to not travel to that area while the police investigate.
Some 80 minutes after the car was reported, emergency crews began expanding the evacuations zone around the Inner Harbor to include The Gallery shopping mall, the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace and Brookshire Suites hotels. Around 1:30 p.m., 22 Light Street was evacuated.
The Baltimore City Department of Transportation is asking everyone to avoid Lombard, Pratt, Calvert and Light streets downtown as investigations continue.
All vehicular & pedestrian traffic is being diverted around the 100 block of E Pratt St downtown due to @BaltimorePolice & @BaltimoreFire activity. #BalTraffic pic.twitter.com/vPr61i5SYe
— Baltimore OEM (@BaltimoreOEM) September 9, 2019