Update 5:05 p.m. Monday:
Two suspicious packages on a beach in Yorktown turned out to be empty and non-explosive Monday afternoon.
Upon further investigation, the Newport News bomb squad determined the two boxes wrapped like Christmas gifts were both empty, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
Water Street has reopened to traffic.
Original story:
A bomb squad is investigating after two boxes wrapped like Christmas presents were discovered on a beach Monday afternoon in Yorktown.
Authorities responded to the scene around 3 p.m. after a passerby reported two packages sitting on a piece of driftwood on the beach behind the Watermen’s Museum, York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office Capt. Troy Lyons said.
Someone had written “SOS 911” in the sand near the boxes, which are both wrapped like Christmas presents and have a bow tied around them.
“So, we are treating them as suspicious packages,” Lyons said.
As of 4:10 p.m., the Newport News bomb squad was on scene working to x-ray the packages to determine if they are explosives, Lyons said.
The boxes are located slightly upriver from the Watermen’s Museum, between the museum and Mathews Street, Lyons said.
The section of Water Street near the Watermen’s Museum, from the Coleman Bridge overpass to Mathews Street, is closed as authorities investigate.
Lyons said there is no estimated time for when the road will open back up.
