No explosives found at Charleston municipal building or at North Charleston shopping complex

The Reuben Greenberg municipal building has been reopened after having been evacuated earlier today because of a bomb threat, Charleston police said.

The incident was the second bomb scare in the area today.

The situation in Charleston started to unfold about 2 p.m. at 180 Lockwood Drive.

Police spokesman Charles Francis said a threatening phone call to the city’s traffic and transportation department prompted the safety measure.

City employees left the building and gathered across the street.

Firefighters and police officers were on the scene and searching the building.

At 3:41 p.m., Francis tweeted that the complex had been cleared and people were allowed to return into the buildings.

The call in Charleston occurred shortly after authorities had cleared a scene in North Charleston where a report of a suspicious package this morning prompted the evacuation of a Rivers Avenue shopping plaza.

No explosives were found inside the package, North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said.

Police fielded that call about 11:15 a.m. from a Dollar Tree store in the North Pointe Plaza, Pryor said.

A bomb squad from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office was sent to 7400 Rivers Ave., sheriff’s Maj. Jim Brady said. The complex includes a Walmart store.

The crews performed an X-ray of the package inside the Dollar Tree store, but it wasn’t disclosed what the package contained.

Firefighters started leaving about 1:45 p.m.

No further information was immediately available.

The North Charleston Police Department is handling that investigation.

Reach Andrew Knapp at 937-5414 or twitter.com/offlede.