Suspicious package found in state building

MOUNT VERNON -- Authorities in southern Illinois are analyzing the remains of a suspicious package that a bomb squad destroyed with a water cannon as a precaution.

Deputy press secretary Henry Haupt says the package was received Tuesday at the Illinois secretary of state's administrative hearing office in Mount Vernon.

Haupt says the package had a cryptic message and an unspecified electronic device was attached to it.

Concern about the item prompted an evacuation of buildings within a one-block radius.

There were no injuries or property damage.