Last updated at 5:24 p.m.
Correction appended: An earlier version of this story said DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said the package raised concerns because of a word written on it. She did not say that there was a word written on the package, just that the situation raised concerns because elements of it bore similarities to incidents in Northville, Mich.
Police closed much of North University Avenue this afternoon to investigate a suspicious package found in a University bus parked at a bus stop between the Ruthven Exhibit Museum of Natural History and the C.C. Little Science Building.
As it turns out, the package contained engine parts, including a supercharger kit.
A bomb squad from the Michigan State Police removed the package from the bus at 1:59 p.m., about forty minutes after arriving on the scene. Police issued an “all clear” alert several minutes later.
At 11:51 a.m., University bus driver Kevin Massey called to report a suspicious box in his bus. By 12:45 p.m., the street was barricaded with police tape between Fletcher Street and Church Street on the northeast corner of the Diag.
Massey said a male passenger entered the bus carrying a box protectively while he was driving the Northwood route southbound in the direction of the C.C. Little bus stop on North University Avenue. The man left the bus without taking the box.
The box was white, with open flaps and black insulation covering its contents, Massey said. The outside of the box bore the word “Northville” written in scratchy handwriting, he said.
Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown said she could not confirm that description.
Brown said the package raised concerns because it bore similarities to several recent incidents in which suspected bombs were found in packages in Northville, Mich. In two of those cases, the boxes contained explosives.
The exhibit museum was evacuated and closed during the investigation but C.C. Little remained open. Many students were delayed getting to class as officers directed them around the barricades.
The bomb squad joined officers from the Department of Public Safety, the Ann Arbor Fire Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
A siren sounded at 1 p.m. as police investigated the package. Brown said in a written statement that the siren was part of the city’s monthly test and was unrelated to the investigation.
Andy Kroll contributed to this report.