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Pressure Cooker Discarded At Saugus Rite-Aid Stirs Alarm

SAUGUS, Mass. (CBS) -- Police were dispatched to a local Rite-Aid store on Monday morning for a report of a suspicious pressure cooker.

At about 7:10 a.m., officers were sent to the store at 359 Broadway after a female witness reported a pressure cooker had been placed in a trash barrel, Saugus Police said in a prepared statement. When the officers arrived, a portion of the Rite-Aid's parking lot was closed and access to the store was restricted.

With the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad, the pressure cooker was examined and declared safe.

While praising the woman who reported the suspicious pressure cooker, Saugus Police advised members of the public to take care when disposing of potentially suspicious items. "The practice of discarding or disposing of items such as pressure cookers in trash receptacles clearly visible to the public is irresponsible," police said.

In the Boston Marathon bombings in April, two Chechen immigrants allegedly planted a pair of bombs crafted from pressure cookers near the finish line in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. Three spectators were killed and hundreds injured.

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