Yesterday’s 7th Street NW Closure

Yesterday, in my quest to meet new people and feel more at home in this new city, I decided to attend a meetup at the Gallery Place cinema. Our group watched the new Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly movie Step Brothers (which, if I were a movie critic, I’d describe as “a rip-roaring good time,” but I’m not, so I’ll just say it was hil.ari.ous and the duo’s best work yet).

On our way out after the movie (at about 6:45 p.m.), the lobby area was packed, and we soon realized the exits were blocked by uniformed officers and the walkway out to the road (by Clive’s) was deserted, though I could see police officers across the street walking around. The officer I spoke with said he had no idea what was going on and pointed me to another exit in a different direction.

A guy on the street told me that Coldplay was headlining at the Verizon Center (in the same complex as the cinema), but I overheard a security guard telling people there was a bomb threat and someone else said there was a “mysterious package” somewhere.

Seventh Street Northwest was closed for at least an hour, though I can’t seem to find any report of what happened. Are these types of things just a usual occurrence here? Does anyone know what happened? This is the second time in a week and a half that I’ve been somewhere in the city and an area was closed off due to a “suspicious bag” or a “mysterious package.”