WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A box of gun supplies that led to Monday’s (Nov. 17) evacuation of the Purdue Armory has been claimed by its owner, who had reported the items as stolen, according to university police.

Lt. Fred Davis said a graduate student came to the Purdue Police Department on Tuesday (Nov. 18) to report that several items had been stolen from the bed of his truck, parked in the 400 block of Russell Street. The items reported stolen included black powder and other commonly available reloading supplies for a muzzleloading-type gun.

Davis said the student positively identified the box and supplies that had been taken from the back of his truck sometime between 11 p.m. Friday (Nov. 14) and 6 a.m. Saturday (Nov. 15).

About 100-150 people were evacuated from the Purdue Armory and the building was closed for about 90 minutes Monday morning after a groundskeeper discovered the ammunition box just outside of the building. Northbound University Street at Third Street also was closed off, as a member of the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department’s bomb squad retrieved the container.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue Armory was evacuated for about 90 minutes Monday morning (Nov. 17) after university police evacuated the facility when a suspicious container was found on the building’s north side.

Police evacuated the Armory and closed off northbound University Street at Third Street shortly after the call came in at about 8:45 a.m. Purdue police Lt. Mike Boesch said approximately 100-150 people were evacuated. Both University Street and the Armory were reopened about 10:15 a.m.

Boesch said that at about 8:45 a.m. a groundskeeper found the small, military ammunition-type box atop a plastic toolbox near a bush on the north side of the Armory. The box was about 6 inches wide, 12 inches long and 8 inches tall. The groundskeeper opened the box, which contained black powder and other commonly available reloading supplies for a muzzleloading-type gun.

The Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad took the package from the scene, and Purdue police continue to investigate the incident.