Update: On Monday, June 11, at approximately 6:22 pm, Wilmington Police were dispatched to the 1500 block of W. 7th Street for the recovery of several vehicles that were reported stolen from Wilmington, Elsmere , and Newport, according to Wilmington Police Spokeswoman Stephanie Castellani.
The woman who owned a 2014 Jeep vehicle, reported stolen from Elsmere, was contacted and responded to the scene, according to Castellani. As she was inspecting her vehicle she found a bag in the vehicle, which did not belong to her. During a inspection of bag she noticed what appeared to be a grenade.
Castellani said as a precaution, the 1500 block was shut down and Wilmington Police Bomb Unit responded.
Members from the Bomb Unit deemed the grenade to be inactive and the scene was rendered safe.
A secondary search was conducted for any other suspicious devices.
This was met with negative results.
All of the recovered stolen motor vehicles were turned over to the registered owners, according to Castellani.
Breaking Report
A section of Wilmington’s Hilltop neighborhood was on lockdown for over an hour Monday night due to a bomb scare.
At 8:44 last night, 911 dispatchers alerted first responders that St Francis Hospital was closed. As that message went out, police began evacuating local residents and employees of businesses near the intersection of West 7th Street and Clayton Street.
Police then cordoned off the area with yellow police tape as they waited for the Wilmington Police (WPD) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team to arrive on scene.
When the EOD team arrived and began their investigation, officers told residents and employees that no one could go in or out of the buildings.
As part of their investigation officials reportedly had several vehicles towed from the parking lot on the east side of St. Francis Hospital before they sent in their remote control robot.
It’s believed that police were investigating a suspicious package in that parking lot.
When the incident wrapped up at around 9:30 residents and employees were allowed back into the area.
Police have not released an official statement regarding last night’s incident but we are expecting more information later this morning.
Although there was a large contingent of police on the east side of the hospital the incident didn’t seem to affect the surrounding area.
An employee answering the phone at Bernie’s the Original Italian Water Ice, which is on the northwest side of St. Francis Hospital said that he was unaware of any police activity in the area.
The incident did not impact the St. Anthony’s Italian Festival that was in full swing just a few blocks away.
