Bomb Scare Shuts Down Sunset Boulevard for Hours Friday [Photos]

UPDATE: At 6:50 p.m. Friday, LAPD Media Relations received word that the incident was "rendered safe."

According to Norma Eiseman said it is not known whether an actual explosive device was discovered.

But she did note that the investigation, which began when the device was reported at 11 a.m., did take longer than usual.

The device was discovered at 5419 Sunset Boulevard. The address is just a few doors east of the storefront where a merchant murdered his landlord then committed suicide himself in 2010.

EARLIER:  A section of Sunset Boulevard in East Hollywood was shut off late Friday morning as police and firefighters waited for the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad.

LAPD officers arrived on the scene just after 11:15 a.m. after construction workers discovered what they thought might be a pipe bomb in an abandoned building in the 5400 block of Sunset Boulevard.

The squad arrived around noon, when a wider perimeter was set up around the area north of Sunset Boulevard between Western Avenue and Serrano Avenue.

Vehicles and pedestrians were blocked from entering the area, although residents were not evacuated.

Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Joseph Castro said that the street could be closed for several hours while the bomb squad did its sweep.  

LAPD's Hollywood division was initially handling the incident.

Patch is attempting to get more information.