Houston Premium Outlets evacuated for hours after suspicious package reported

Sunday, March 16, 2014 KTRK-TV HOUSTON, TX

CYPRESS, TX (KTRK) -- A suspicious package forced evacuations at a northwest Harris County mall Sunday afternoon.

Deputies were called to the Houston Premium Outlets on Hempstead Road in Cypress after officials say a store manager reported a suspicious package. The manager told authorities a woman dropped off what looked like a hard-shell photo case around 4:30pm.

The mall was evacuated and K-9 units were brought in to search.

Deputies say a scent was detected. That was enough to alert officials and they called in a bomb squad.

Bomb techs spent about an hour x-raying and probed the package before opening it.

"We were able to open the package," said Dep. Thomas Gilliland with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. "Nothing was found inside that was any type of explosive or any type of dangerous threat to anyone."

Officials say there were no threats called in or made to the store. No one has claimed the package.