A Toronto police robot is pictured outside Amazing Party and Costume on Oxford Street in Etobicoke after a fifth suspicious device was found in four days Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. (CP24/Tom Stefanac)
Police find fifth suspicious package at party store
 A police bomb squad robot is pictured outside Amazing Party and Costume Store in Etobicoke on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, after explosive devices were found. (MyBreakingNews/Kelly Wallace) |
View larger imageA bomb squad and other officers returned to Amazing Party and Costume on Monday night when a fourth package was found by staff shortly before 7:30 p.m.
For the second time in recent days, the store was evacuated and police scoured the building, finding a fifth suspicious package.
Both objects were removed from the store, but police haven't said if they contained any explosives.
The discovery occurred almost 12 hours after the store, located on Oxford Street near the Gardiner Expressway and Islington Avenue, reopened after being shut down for most of the weekend.
'Business terrorism'
Two of three devices found Friday and Saturday were considered to be explosives. Store owner Sean Hamilton called the incident a case of "business terrorism."
Staff closed the store after the first suspicious device was found Friday, but it reopened later in the day.
Two additional devices were found Saturday, forcing the store to close for the rest of the weekend leading up to Halloween and miss out on some of the biggest sales days of the year.
Police searched the store all weekend and cleared the scene Sunday night, allowing Hamilton to reopen Monday morning.
Hamilton said police told him the building was deemed safe for employees and customers.
It's not known if the fourth and fifth devices were placed in the store after it reopened or if they had been there for days and weren't discovered during the earlier police search.
Police haven't made any arrests as they continue to investigate the motive.
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