A package that was suspected to be a bomb at the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center turned out to be coloring sticks.
The Bentonville Police Department received a report of a suspicious package at the center’s west entrance about 7 a.m. Thursday, said Sgt. Russell Hinds with the department’s bomb squad.
A bomb-squad robot opened the package to reveal the coloring sticks inside, Hinds said. The incident was over by 8 a.m.
Evidently someone donated the coloring sticks and didn’t know where to leave the package, Hinds said. Employees saw the package outside the entrance, deemed it suspicious and called police.
There were no markings on the package and it was left where deliveries are not normally made, Hinds said. It’s not known who left the package.
There were a few children and employees inside who were moved to the far east side of the center during the incident. The center is at 1701 Wildcat Way, south of Apple Glen Elementary School.
Hinds said the bomb squad responds to about three calls per month, but it serves a wide area.