“Looked So Suspicious” — Woman’s Package Delivery Results in Visit From Bomb Squad

A woman shared how the weird placement of a delivery package ended up turning into a bonafide, and terrifying, emergency situation. Catherine Palmore (@catherinepalmore) relayed the unbelievable story in a viral TikTok that's accrued over 560,000 views on the social media platform.

It's a tale that gets progressively crazier and crazier the deeper she gets into it.

Catherine shares how a coworker sent a photo of a "suspicious" looking package that was left in the front door of their office. Yes, in the door — the package was placed into the openings of its handles. The white bundle looked like something you'd find washed up on a Miami beach.

Erring on the side of caution, the TikToker related that her co-worker decided to phone the police on their non-emergency line.

They didn't believe it was going to be anything out of the ordinary, but again, wanted to be safe than sorry. Ultimately, she thought the cops could come and tell them that they were good and everyone could go on their merry way. However, the TikToker says that her and her squad had "no such luck" and that authorities thought there was something off about the package.

This prompted a call from the police to the local fire department. Again, Catherine and her co-workers ultimately thought emergency service personnel would give them the all clear to enter the building, but they shared the same trepidation as the police did.

Catherine was shocked — she thought that either officers or members of the fire department would have some idea as to what was inside the package.

At this point in the situation, things started moving fast — Catherine said that folks were being evacuated from the building while the authorities assessed the situation.

This caution wasn't just restricted to Catherine's workplace, but workers in surrounding office spaces were forced to exit the premises as a precautionary measure.

Furthermore, a barricade was placed in the office parking lot in order to prevent others from entering the vicinity. At around the 1:18 second mark, the TikToker shows recorded footage she took of the scene. A variety of trucks from both her local police and fire departments are seen idling in the parking lot.

Catherine thought that for sure after a safe perimeter was established that authorities would approach the package in order to determine whether or not it posed a threat.

Matters escalated even further — it turns out that the perimeter was being established to make room for a bomb squad that was called in.

Again, she shows off some footage she recorded of the incident, which shows a man who looks like he came straight out of The Hurt Locker setting up equipment to the wonderment of those watching him in action.

Surely, Catherine thought, the bomb squad would get to the bottom of the situation and quickly suss out that the door handle package wasn't a serious threat.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the case — as the explosives-defusing team then implemented the use of robots to make contact with the package. Next, her clip cuts to footage of the bomb squad robot stationed at the building's exterior, which operatives use to inspect the suspicious item.

The incident then escalated to another level — drones were sent in to assess the situation while the bomb squad truck deployed a massive tower of a camera from its top. Catherine says it was used to further scan the area, bolstering the data gathered by both the bomb squad's robot and drones.

Furthermore, the TikToker stated it looked like the squad truck's camera was scanning the surrounding area as well, and that at one point during the chaos, two cops began running in the same direction, seemingly alarmed by something.

Officers were also quick to secure perimeters, ensuring that intrigued bystanders weren't getting too close to take pictures and snoop on the work they were doing.

Finally, after all of this drama the bomb squad was able to learn the contents of the package in the door: it was a guitar tuner that someone from Catherine's office had ordered.

Apparently, delivery protocol for musical accessories is to stick them in door handles. However, placing the item there makes sense, considering that the office was locked.

Probably not wanting to leave the item on the ground, whoever delivered the item thought that it was best to stick it through the door handles.

Where the driver messed up, however, was that the package was folded in such a way that the recipient's information wasn't visible, so it just looked like a strange, firmly packed mass wedged into the entrance doors' handles.

Catherine added that they had also duct taped the package to the door handles to prevent anyone from stealing it. Talk about good intentions going wrong, right?

She jokingly thanked the person who dropped off the item for "going above and beyond" in their duties, along with emergency service personnel for responding so promptly to the call, which they clearly took seriously.

TikTokers who tuned in for Catherine's wild ride had a litany of responses. One person said that despite all of the craziness that there was an upside for the office worker and her fellow employees: "All I’m hearing is you got the day off."

Another said that they knew the situation was serious when police decided to call the fire department regarding the issue. "Police called the fire department? Oh they were SCARED scared."

Whereas others wondered what the delivery person was thinking slapping duct tape to the package in such a way. "Who duct tapes a package to a door?!??! That's suspicious."

Someone else echoed this same sentiment: "Okay but what delivery person is carrying around duct tape and taping packages down? Mine usually get thrown in my planters. and why would you put it through the door handles? So weird."