Person of Interest Being Questioned; Substance Tested after Anthrax Scare at ABC News

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June 15, 2007 6:12 PM

Police are questioning a person in connection with a suspicious letter received by ABC News today that mentioned anthrax.

Inspectors, the New York Police Department, the New York Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the FBI responded to a report of an envelope addressed to Sam Champion at ABC News offices containing an unknown powder.   

An employee found the letter at around 1:00 p.m. this afternoon at a 6th floor office at 147 Columbus Avenue in Manhattan. 

The building was surrounded by police and hazmat teams, and the floor where the letter was discovered was closed down. 

Police have told ABC News that preliminary tests on the material are negative for any hazardous substance, and law enforcement has given clearance for ABC staff to return to normal operations.

In the months of September, October and November 2001, following the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks, anthrax originating from letters infected 22 people, killing five. 

ABC News was targeted in one of the anthrax attacks and the seven-month-old son of an ABC News producer was infected. The baby developed a fever and an ulcer surfaced on his elbow one day after attending a party at the West 66th Street offices in Manhattan. The child's mother first suspected an infected spider bite but pursued more testing that determined the child had cutaneous anthrax, a skin exposure.  The child responded well to the antibiotics and recovered. 

After the incident, city police officers, FBI agents and health investigators were dispatched to three other television network offices as well as to the offices of The Daily News, The New York Post and The Associated Press to test mailrooms and other areas for anthrax. 

Employees at the New York Post, NBC, CBS and the offices of two U.S. senators also tested positive for anthrax after the string of attacks.