PetSmart in Hollymead Town Center was briefly evacuated Friday morning. After hearing about an evacuation at Walmart on Route29 due to a person carrying a suspicious package, the manager at PetSmart thought he might have seen the same suspect at his store earlier.
The manager says he saw someone in his store looking suspicious and it drew his attention. He says the man spent a good amount of time in the store, displaying suspicious behavior.
After hearing about what happened at Walmart, the manager thought it may have been the same person, so he evacuated his store and called Albemarle County police.
Captain John Parrent of the Albemarle County Police Department said, "We can't confirm whether it's the same individual, it's apparently someone who matched the same description of the individual at Walmart."
Police and fire investigators blocked off the entrance to PetSmart, and did a full sweep of the store with a K9 unit. Shortly after police gave the store a green light to reopen.
They are still looking into whether or not the man from Walmart is the man in question.
