Daily parking garage at BWI Airport re-opens after investigation into suspicious bags

The daily parking garage at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport was closed Friday evening and air traffic was temporarily halted as police investigated unattended bags in the garage, officials said.

The bags were found on the eighth level of the nine-story garage around 5:15 p.m., said Jonathan Dean, a spokesman for the airport. The state fire marshal was called to the scene to investigate, and it was determined the bags were not a hazard, Dean said.

The investigation of the bags, along with an unrelated investigation in a nearby shopping center in Glen Burnie, prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to halt flight activity.

"It was only in place for a short period of time. The effect was minimal," Dean said.

The garage reopened around 6:30 p.m.

The disturbance in Glen Burnie occurred when a man walked into a bank in the Cromwell Shopping Center about 4:30 p.m. and said he was carrying a bomb in his backpack.

His claim turned out to be false, but it forced the evacuation of some businesses in the shopping center and road closures in the area.

Baltimore Sun Media Group reporter E.B. Furgurson III contributed to this article.