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Philly City Hall was evacuated for a bomb squad investigation, but no explosive device was found

Police said the package was examined and determined not to contain a device, and the scene was cleared. No injuries were reported.

President Kenyatta Johnson checks his watch and gavels City Council into session Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, as the body returns for start of its fall session.
President Kenyatta Johnson checks his watch and gavels City Council into session Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, as the body returns for start of its fall session.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Philadelphia City Hall was evacuated and City Council was abruptly adjourned on Thursday after sheriff’s deputies alerted officials to a suspicious package in Council, Council President Kenyatta Johnson said.

Johnson told The Inquirer that sheriff’s deputies were investigating the package found on the floor where Council members were holding their first meeting of the fall session. A bomb squad was called, and dogs signaled an alert on the package, he said.

Police said the package was examined and determined not to contain a device, and the scene was cleared. No injuries were reported.

All 17 Council members, their staffers, journalists, and members of the public were evacuated from the building. Managing Director Carlton Williams said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is safe and that she was not in the building when the package was discovered.

“The bomb squad is out there,” Johnson said while the room was being evacuated. “The sheriff’s office just notified us that there was a suspicious package that was sniffed by two dogs, and so they’re asking us to evacuate the building.”

As chambers were being evacuated, officers detained and removed a government employee. The employee spoke to a reporter while in handcuffs.

He said he believed it was his package that was at the center of the ordeal. “I think it’s my bag that I left on the chair,” he said.

He said it was not a bomb.

Outside City Hall, members of Council and government employees milled about, many calmly speculating on the origin of the threat or lack thereof. Councilmember Jim Harrity, a Democrat known as one of the chamber’s more colorful members, said plainly: “Hopefully it turns out to be not a bomb, but something else.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time that someone has threatened City Council,” he said. “This happens.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

    Sean Collins Walsh
    I report from the City Hall bureau, covering the mayor and City Council and searching for stories about Philly politics.
    Anna Orso
    I cover Philadelphia City Hall, writing about how power, politics, and policy shape our city.