UPDATE, Aug. 2, 2023, 2:30 p.m. — A suspicious device that a local abortion clinic reported to police Wednesday morning did not contain explosives, Wichita Police said Wednesday afternoon.
A criminal investigation into who left the package and what their motive was is ongoing.
“Right now, we just know we had an object that was left behind,” Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said. “We don’t know if there was any criminal intent, but we intend to find out.”
Kellogg has reopened in the area. Police closed it from Rock Road to Oliver for about six hours earlier in the day while investigating the device.
Residents and business owners in the area, who were evacuated or asked to shelter in place, can return.
Trust Women Clinic, the abortion provider, said in a statement that staff were safe and patients were not scheduled to be at the clinic Wednesday.
The incident comes one year after Kansans voted to reject a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have removed the right to abortion.
In its statement, the clinic condemned acts of violence against abortion providers “by authoritarian extremists.”
“Our clinic, like so many independent abortion clinics across the country, is a place of medicine, healing and love for our communities,” the statement said. “Our patients find compassion and solidarity at our clinic, once they’ve made it past the vitriol and hatred of the extremists at our gates.”
Trust Women clinic was operated for decades by Dr. George Tiller. The clinic was bombed in 1986 and has been the target of bomb threats for decades. Tiller was shot and wounded outside the clinic in 1993.
Zach Gingrich-Gaylord, a spokesman from the clinic, said security there called police before 8 a.m. after discovering a suspicious package outside the clinic during a routine sweep of the area.
"Our standard protocol is call the police and have them investigate it," Gingrich-Gaylord said.
“Unfortunately, this is just standard operating procedure for an abortion clinic.”
At least four local agencies – Wichita Police Department, Wichita Fire Department, Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Services and the Kansas Highway Patrol – responded to the incident. They were joined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Wichita Police Department activated its bomb squad.
