Marshall Square Mall reopened, police say suspicious package was ‘nothing dangerous’

UPDATED: Friday, Dec. 15 at 12:33 p.m.

The Marshall Square Mall has been reopened after being shut down and evacuated for a brief period Friday morning after a suspicious package was found by post office employees. 

The suspicious package only contained a compact style refrigerator and “was nothing dangerous,” though, according to a Syracuse Police Department press release issued at about 12:15 p.m. Friday. The mall is located on University Avenue across the street from Syracuse University’s Matin J. Whitman School of Management.

Department of Public Safety and SPD officials strung police tape across the front entrance of the mall as employees milled around outside. John Sardino, associate chief of DPS, and other university police officers responded to the incident.

Police advised SU students to stay away from the area in an email to the campus community at about 11 a.m. The package was reported to police at about 10:30 a.m. The city’s bomb squad and K-9 Unit were deployed for the investigation, according to the press release.

Helterline said officials do not know who left the package in the post office.

This is a developing story.