UPDATE: Empire Mall partially evacuated after ‘suspicious’ package found

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - UPDATE: Authorities say a partial evacuation at the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls was implemented after a “suspicious” package was found.

The incident took place around 2 p.m. Friday. The Sioux Falls Police Department Bomb Squad responded to the mall after someone found a suspicious package in the Macy’s wing, according Sgt. Jason Montgomery.

That portion of the mall was evacuated while police investigated. Officers eventually discovered the package was not an explosive device. The evacuation order was lifted after roughly an hour.

Montgomery said police also interviewed a “suspicious person,” but investigators determined that person was not connected to the suspicious package incident. He also confirmed that nobody “called in” a bomb threat, and that the police response was solely due to the suspicious package.

Sioux Falls police are investigating a situation after portions of the Empire Mall were evacuated on Friday around 2 p.m.

Few details are known at this time, but our Dakota News Now team saw a bomb squad vehicle on site. That vehicle left after some time, and people have since been allowed back inside the building.

Dakota News Now will provide updates as more information is released.