Cathedral of Hope’s Rev. Neil Cazares-Thomas
The Dallas Police bomb squad said suitcases left at Cathedral of Hope were harmless.
Message from Cathedral of Hope:
The packages have been deemed harmless, and we are headed back inside just in time for the 11 a.m. service! A special thanks goes out to our Dallas Police Department and law enforcement that have done everything to ensure the safety of our community and church family.
Cathedral of Hope was evacuated at 8:05 a.m. where three suspicious suitcases were found in the building. The 9 a.m. service was held under the trees behind the Interfaith Peace Chapel.
Dallas Police Department, including the bomb squad, responded and removed the packages. An all-lear was given before 11 a.m.
The statement from the DPD’s Public Information Office reads:
On June 19, 2016, shortly after 8:00 a.m., Dallas officers responded to a suspicious package call at the Cathedral of Hope located at 5910 Cedar Springs Road. When officers arrived, they were informed that a security personnel, employed by the church, was making his rounds of the outer perimeter when he came across what he believed to be a suspicious package. The package was located near an adjoining construction site on the east side of the church. The church was in service at the time and a decision was made to evacuate the parishioners as a precaution.
Officers cordoned off the area and notified the Explosive Ordinance Unit (EOD). Once EOD arrived, they were able to determine that the package did not contain any explosive material.
Dallas Voice will continue to monitor the situation and update with more information — What was in the packages? Who left them outside the church? — as that information becomes available.