Winnipeg police had a chunk of the downtown closed off Friday afternoon as the Bomb Unit investigated a suspicious package.

A pedestrian spotted a black briefcase in a parking lot on Graham Avenue and notified police.

It comes just days after a backpack exploded outside the Law Courts building.

The black briefcase on Friday drew a large police presence at around noon as officers were brought in to investigate the suspicious package, right across the street from police headquarters.

"On that initial examination there were some concerns,” said Const. Jason Michalyshen. “There were some visual concerns with respect to the nature of the package that cadets observed and in light of that, they backed off."

Mike Licharson was in the parking lot as officers began checking over the briefcase.  He said he was worried, because he didn’t know what was in the briefcase.

“I knew with what happened at the Law Courts, I thought instantly the worst case," said Licharson.

On Wednesday, a backpack exploded at York Avenue and Kennedy Street, sending a Law Courts employee to hospital for precautionary reasons.

Police didn't take any chances with the briefcase.

Officers blocked off Graham between Smith Street and Fort Street, as well as part of Garry Street.

Traffic and Winnipeg Transit in the area had to be re-routed and pedestrian access was cut off.

Michalyshen said the closures were a precautionary measure to keep the public safe.

About two and a half hours after the package was first spotted, police determined it posed no risk and reopened the streets.

"They determined the contents were not explosive,” said Michalyshen.

Despite the inconvenience of street closures, Licharson said he's glad officers erred on the side of caution.

"With what happened last year and those packages blowing up, and what happened at the Law Courts, it kind of makes that they're taking all the measures that they are now."

Even though the briefcase posed no danger, police said an investigation into how and why it ended up in the area will continue.

At this point, there's nothing to suggest it was criminal in nature and police said there's nothing to suggest there's any link whatsoever between this incident and the explosion at the Law Courts.