Report: Wild Traffic Stop in South Carolina Leads to Bomb Threat – and the Shutdown of Parts of I-85

As if we didn’t have enough going on this week, there were reports earlier of a bomb threat in South Carolina that shut down parts of Interstate 85 in the Palmetto State.

Information was posted this afternoon on the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page:

Greenville County SWAT and Bomb Team members are on scene on Interstate 85 Northbound near mile marker 44, assisting the SC State Transport Police who requested assistance following a traffic stop just after 3:30 PM. We are working in conjunction with the State Transport Police after a threat of a potential hazardous device was reported.

We are working diligently to ensure the scene is safe and get traffic moving as quick as possible. Any further questions should be deferred to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.

There was also this from South Carolina’s governor:

According to Trooper Mitchell Ridgeway, the state highway patrol’s Community Relations officer for several counties in the state, “both sides of the I-85″ were “closed until further notice.”  These were the detour routes:

This was video earlier from the scene:

The good news is that the Greenville County Sheriff’s office has indicated that they are opening the interstate back up, saying the situation is “safe”:

Bomb team members have deemed the situation safe and are reopening I-85. The driver of the tractor trailer is in the custody of the SC State Transport Police.

There’s no word yet on what the bomb team found or did not find, but good to know in light of this week’s tragic events that the one in South Carolina turned out okay.