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Police said they believe Emerson hired a man and a woman — who did not know the contents of the envelopes — to deliver the packages to five locations. The man and woman were later released without charges.

Envelopes were dropped off at Cut Casual Steak & Tap in the 400 block of 21st Street East, Saskatoon Square in the 400 block of 22nd Street East, Airline Hotels and Resorts’ office at 211 Fourth Avenue South, the Sandman Hotel in the 300 block of Circle Drive West and the Comfort Inn and Suites in the 600 block of Cynthia Street, police said.

Fire Chief Morgan Hackl said this week that 40 to 50 fire department staff were involved in the response. Police Insp. Lorne Constantinoff said police resources were taxed to the limit by the incidents, but they were able to call in other resources to help.

Fire crews have dealt with suspicious packages in the past, but not “to this magnitude where there is five different locations in a two-hour period,” Hackl said. Constantinoff said that responding to so many calls about suspicious packages in such a short time “really kind of caught us off guard. But I’m happy to say that I think we responded very well.”

Emerson is scheduled to appear Tuesday in Saskatoon provincial court.