Los Angeles Police diverted traffic off Moorpark Street between Laurelgrove and Whitsett avenues for several hours after a "suspicious item" was found at a church in Studio City.
Police determined that the device was not a bomb, according to Officer Gregory Baek of the LAPD Media Relations Section.
"It's been cleared," Baek told Patch around 5:45 p.m. "There was no bomb found. There were two white objects taped together that looked like a bomb."
Two pieces of PVC pipe with a cellphone wrapped around it was found during a staff meeting at the at 12355 Moorpark St. No one was answering the phones at the church, where the offices close at 3 p.m.
Bomb squad units from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the LAPD were called in, and just after 4 p.m. a small bang was heard from a block away as the suspicious item was intentionally exploded using a robotic device, police said.
Baek said that officers had not determined if the device was intentionally placed and made to look like a bomb.
Before the small explosion, a bomb squad officer told onlookers, "In about 10 minutes you are going to hear a pop, but if its any bigger than that, then you guys will know it was a bomb."
The explosion was not loud, which indicated right way that the device was not a live bomb. After the small explosion, several bomb-sniffing dogs were led to the scene.
About 4:45 p.m., the LA Sheriff's bomb squad truck drove away from the scene, and police began to remove cones from Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Moorpark.
Eisenman said the item at the church was found at about 1 p.m.
Actress Sophia Porter, who lives behind the church Twittered, "Police just told us to evacuate due to a bomb scare at the church behind us in Studio City. Definitely not a normal day."
Stay tuned to Patch for more information as it develops.
