Substance Found At Congressman Cummings' Baltimore Office Not Explosive

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A tense and frightening scene with federal agents, the bomb squad and a hazmat team. It was a massive response when an unknown substance was found outside Congressman Elijah Cummings' office in Mount Vernon.

Monique Griego has the very latest from police.

The substance was found on the outside of the front door of the office. There were also sticky notes left on the glass. Cummings tells WJZ whoever put the material there wanted it to look like a bomb.

The Mount Vernon office of Congressman Elijah Cummings is at the center of an intense FBI investigation.

"They were surrounding the door and I heard it was a suspicious note and some substance on the door," said Dominique Anderson, witness.

According to Cummings, an employee with military experience arrived at work and noticed a putty-like material stuck around the outside door.

"She noticed that there was something that gave the appearance of plastic explosive devices in 10 various places around the door," said Elijah Cummings, (D) Maryland.

No one was allowed inside the building as Baltimore fire investigators and the FBI tested the material.

"And determined that it was not an explosive device, but it was made to appear that way. And that there were apparently some type of wiring connected to it," Cummings said.

The FBI confirmed the material was not hazardous. Agents also scoured the scene for other crucial evidence.

Several sticky notes were found on the glass next to the black putty, but Cummings says they did not contain any specific threats.

Workers from the building next door told WJZ the whole thing made them uneasy.

"I was actually kind of scared," a woman said. "I just want to be far away from it. I don't want to be nowhere near it."

"This is the world we starting to live in. It's crazy," said Anderson.

Cummings echoed the same message, saying anything out of the ordinary has to be taken seriously.

"Sadly, it has become our normal to expect negative things to happen. I just thank God it wasn't more than what it was," he said.

The FBI has officially taken over the investigation. They tell WJZ they still have testing to do on that substance.

About 10 people work in Cummings' Baltimore office each day.