Misunderstanding causes bomb scare at Peru Mall

Peru Mall is open again after an apparent misunderstanding led to the evacuation of the shopping center and its surrounding parking lots this morning.  Reportedly, a package was delivered to the mall just after 7 a.m. with a message attached regarding an explosive device.  Peru Police were called in and evacuated mall walkers and employees.  The mall and its entrances and exits were closed off.  A bomb squad was en route to check out the suspicious package, which had not been moved from the loading dock where it was found.  That was in the area of the new Jo-Ann Fabrics store.  When contacted, a Peru Police Department dispatcher said in addition to the mall being evacuated, a command post had been set up in the old K-Mart parking lot south of the mall.  Eventually it was discovered that a label accompanying the package said BOMB.  That’s an acronym for a shipping term “Billed Order Maintenance Batching”.  The evacuation was lifted shortly before 10 a.m..