UPDATE: Carfentanil shuts down City Hall

Red Deer City Hall is back open Friday morning after officials say a member of the public left a package of carfentanil inside the main floor public washroom.

City Hall was closed as a precautionary measure on Thursday afternoon after a Commissionaires employee found the drugs and reported it to police. 

The drugs left behind have now been confirmed as carfentanil, according to a Red Deer RCMP spokesperson.

“City Hall security escorted a suspicious male from the building. Security then discovered a small amount of a suspicious substance and contacted RCMP, who confirmed it was carfentanil at which point the Haz Mat procedures were activated,” the spokesperson says. “RCMP believe the substance was left inadvertently, not on purpose.”

Staff were evacuated Thursday while Emergency Services came in and cleaned the area. The Commissionaires member who handled the drug was not harmed. Carfentanil is considered 100x stronger than fentanyl.

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Tara Shand, Communications Team Lead with The City of Red Deer, says the closure was in line with City Hall safety procedures. 

“We are a public facility. We always have processes and things in place to deal with anything that might occur like this,” she says. “It just reminds us we need to be really familiar with practices and processes to make sure we can be responsive — and of course safety of citizens and staff is our first priority, which is why we closed City Hall.”

RCMP add they have not identified a suspect.