Route 287 re-opened; duffel bag poses "no threat"

Route 287, which was closed this morning after a suspicious bag was found in the median of the highway, has reopened.

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WABC-TV NewsCopter7 was over the scene when robots were called in to inspect a suspicious package in New Jersey.

The duffel bag was later found to contain only "stuffed animals and trash" after a bomb squad with robots responded to the scene, police said.

The bag had been discovered by a Department of Transportation employee who was using the turnaround between the north- and south-bound lanes at about 9:30 a.m. at mile marker 43 in Boonton, according to Sgt. Jeff Flynn of the New Jersey State Police in Trenton.

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Route 287 was closed in both directions for two hours while the bomb squad and other law-enforcement personnel investigated.

"The contents of the bag have been deemed safe and the actions taken by the police were warranted," said Sgt. David Wright, also of the state police.

The bag contained a product package which had writing on it that was translated into several different languages including Arabic, according to Capt. Stephen Jones of the state police. The package turned out to be empty.

Traffic on Route 287 was backed up for miles and the shutdown spilled over onto connecting roadways including Routes 80, 24, 10 and 202.

"Because of where they package was, there in the (median), it basically affected both sides of the road," said Capt. Stephen Jones, a state police spokesman. "You've got to play things like this very carefully. You are providing a safe zone for the responders and the members of the public traveling any where around that area."

Police are uncertain if the item fell off of or out of a moving vehicle or was left there on purpose but Jones said it has not been deemed suspicious.