Article content continued

On Thursday evening, police said in a news release the investigation was concluded and there was no threat to the public. The package had been transported to a Regina Police Service training pit outside the city, where it was opened by the explosives disposal unit.

“Further investigation revealed nothing unusual about the contents of the package,” the news release said.

Photo by TROY FLEECE / Regina Leader-Post

One of the evacuated residents on the scene told the Leader-Post she suspected drug activity in one of the unit’s in the apartment building.

“There’s a lot of high traffic in and out,” Erica Pambrun said. “People coming in and out quickly.”

She said that activity has been on the third floor, which was the first floor evacuated by police.

“We had a quiet building a month ago,” she said, adding that changed with some tenants that arrived in January. “Now it’s crazy. I have no idea what’s going on.”

Regina police spokesman Les Parker said police first became involved around 11:30 a.m. when officers were dispatched to a report of an assault stemming from “a landlord-tenant disagreement.” The landlord was allegedly pushed from residence by a tenant, whom the landlord was trying to evict.

Police arrived and noticed, “There was a strange smell coming from the room. It appeared to be coming from a pressure cooker on the stove,” said Parker.

Asked if it could contain potentially dangerous chemicals, Parker said “there’s always a suspicion” which is the reason for the precautions. “With the weird chemical odour … it wasn’t lunch,” he added.