Evacuation lifted after bomb threat near industrial plant in Peoria, Illinois; rendered safe by police

Updated on: November 14, 2026 / 2:57 PM EST / CBS News

An evacuation order was lifted Saturday and residents were allowed to return to their homes after a bomb threat near an industrial building in Peoria, Illinois.

The city of East Peoria said in a statement that, as of 1:00 p.m. local time, residents in the 1-mile radius evacuation zone "can return to their homes and all businesses can resume normal operations."

Peoria police said a suspicious package was found near a BioUrja ethanol plant at approximately 2 p.m. on Friday, and that hours later it was determined to be a "credible threat."

Police Chief Brad Dixon said Saturday at a press conference that there was still "no explanation on what the device was." He said the investigation is still ongoing.

"Law Enforcement will continue their investigation into this incident, and updates will be provided," the police department said in a statement.

Dixon added the package was "rendered safe" at 9:12 p.m., but searches continued for other possible devices throughout the wider area.

"The area of BioUrja has not been rendered safe, just the package that was on site. It's a large facility; there's going to be an exhaustive…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/