January 14, 2015
An hours-long evacuation from two buildings at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurt in Burlington County has come to an end.
Shortly after 2 p.m., a Base Exchange store and commissary at the base were evacuated due to a suspicious, unattended package. Officials now say the package was "nothing hostile."
In addition to the store and commissary, two checkpoints — one lane at the Route 68 Gate and the Wrightstown Gate — were closed while officials investigated.
Earlier, NBC Philadelphia reported:
A staffer, who asked not to be identified as they were not cleared to release information, told NBC10 people came in yelling "Get the hell out! This is not a drill." They said people were terrified and running from the area.
There's no word on how many were evacuated and officials are declining to comment further, the Burlington County Times reported.
The base sent out a tweet regarding the evacuation and another one later, confirming that the ordeal was over.
JB MDL has returned to normal operating status after first responders cleared the scene & assessing the situation.
— JointBaseMDL (@jointbasemdl) January 14, 2015
The evacuation came the same day the threat level was raised at New Castle Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware.
