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Evacuation Of MacDill Building Ends Without Incident

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By SAMARA SODOS

News Channel 8

Published: September 3, 2008

TAMPA - An evacuation of the acquisitions and logistics building at U.S. Special Operations Command on Tuesday afternoon ended without incident, said MacDill Air Force Base spokeswoman Rebecca Heyse.

The all-clear signal was issued shortly after 3:30 p.m. and traffic again flowed in and out of the Dale Mabry gate, said Tampa Police Department spokeswoman Andrea Davis.

During a routine security sweep about 1 p.m., a bomb-sniffing dog encountered something in the visitor's reception parking lot at MacDill, Heyse said. The Socom acquisitions and logistics building was evacuated because of its proximity, Heyse said. The acquisitions and logistics building houses the unit in charge of buying weaponry for special operations, according to Socom spokesman Capt. Wes Ticer.

An Air Force bomb squad unit responded, and the Dale Mabry gate, at Dale Mabry Highway and Interbay Boulevard, was closed. The Bayshore and MacDill gates remained open, Heyse said.

Earlier Tuesday, MacDill Air Force Base security called the Tampa Police Department to divert traffic from the gate at Dale Mabry Highway and Interbay Boulevard, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

The call came in at 1:54 p.m., and four units were dispatched, Davis said.

Tribune assignment editor Howard Altman contributed to this report.

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