Early Saturday morning, we woke up to dozens of texts and messages from concerned citizens about a large law enforcement presence in downtown Melbourne.
We received numerous photos and videos showing Melbourne Police, Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, and SWAT surrounding The County Line bar with weapons drawn.
Traffic heading east on Strawbridge was diverted. Police state that they received a call about multiple possibly armed suspects located inside the bar which was closed for business at the time.
The ordeal lasted several hours and police say that after a thorough search of the area, no suspects could be found and there were no signs on a burglary. No arrests were made and by noon things were back to normal.
We spoke with staff that afternoon and the confirmed there was no obvious damage to be found, and it didn’t appear that anything was actually missing.
Speculation on social media showed many believed it was “squatters” attempting to take over the bar and they were armed. That clearly turned out not to be the case.
Speaking to several witnesses provided no further information to explain what happened. Other than the initial call, no one else claimed to see anyone go in or out if the establishment.
Saturday night they were back in business as usual.
