Packages release smoke, odors in Md. gov buildings

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Two packages sent to state government buildings 20 miles apart released smoke and odors when they were opened Thursday, but no one was seriously injured, officials said.

State officials initially said the packages exploded, but later said there were no blasts.

Maryland state police spokesman Greg Shipley said mailrooms at state offices across Maryland were being quarantined until it could be determined if any other packages had been sent.

One package was opened this afternoon at the Jeffrey Building on Francis Street in downtown Annapolis and another at the Maryland Department of Transportation building in Hanover.

Shipley said the packages were small, about the size of a book.

“In both instances when the small packages were opened, there was a dissemination of smoke and a smell, that’s the best description we have right now,” he said.

Phil McGowan, a spokesman for the Annapolis mayor, said fire units were called to the mailroom of the Jeffrey Building after an employee there was injured.

The FBI’s joint terrorism task force was assisting in the investigation, the state police spokesman said, adding that the state fire marshal and a number of other law enforcement agencies also responded to the two scenes.