BOISE - A bomb squad responded to a call from Corpus Christi House in downtown Boise Saturday morning after a janitor saw a "suspicious device" near a Christmas tree in the shelter's eating area.
Police say the device turned out to be a make-shift battery pack made out of a toilet paper roll, batteries, saran wrap, and wires. Corpus Christi House says one of their more "tech-savvy" guests made it to run the star on top of the Christmas tree.
"It looked exactly like a bomb," said Troy Minton of Corpus Christi House. "The way it was made and the wires and everything, the way it was designed and stuff, I would have thought it was the same thing because at first I thought it was, but I kind of looked at it and followed where the wires went and it could have easily been somebody who didn't like the homeless community, trying to retaliate."
Only a couple of staff members were there at the time because the shelter wasn't open yet.
Americana Boulevard was closed between River and Front streets while the investigation was going on. The scene has since been cleared.
