At approximately 8:40 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, a suspicious object was reported in the parking lot of the Water Tower Apartment complex in Big Rapids.

Big Rapids Police, Big Rapids Fire, and Mecosta County EMS arrived to the scene shortly after to inspect the object. A call was then made to Michigan State Police, who is sending a specialty unit to handle the situation as of 10 a.m.

MSP's Bomb Squad arrived on scene and assessed the object using a robot. According to Big Rapids Department of Public Safety, the object was a "plastic pop bottle" and had an unknown chemical inside of it. Samples were collected for testing and the object was removed. The samples will be sent to the MSP Forensic Lab in Grand Rapids.

A "shelter-in-place" warning was issued for residents on the premises and the complex's entrance was secured by law enforcement. The warning has expired as of 11:40 a.m.

The investigation is ongoing at this time.

_{This story was updated at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21.}