Police have sealed off a block along one of Washington’s main business thoroughfares over reports that a suspicious pressure cooker had been found in the area.
Cars were diverted from a lengthy stretch of L Street NW, and both cars and pedestrians were being blocked from a block at 17th Street and L Street NW, the business district where many of the city’s top lobbyists and law firms have their offices.
The incident began shortly after 2 p.m., and police on the scene said they were still trying to determine if the pressure cooker represented a threat.
A modified, shrapnel-filled pressure cooker was used by the two brothers behind the April 2013 bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, and blueprints on how to rig up pressure cookers as makeshift explosive devices have been found on many jihadist websites.
• Brennan Weiss can be reached at bweiss@washingtontimes.com.
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