Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from Amazon.
Here’s an Amazon return with a happy ending.
A 2-year-old child playing in an Amazon Hub Locker in Seattle was temporarily stuck in the package delivery unit on Sunday. Seattle Police and Fire Department personnel were both dispatched, but the call was cancelled before they arrived after the boy got out safely, according to SPD.
“We’re thankful to hear the child is safe and are currently looking into the details of the incident,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement emailed to GeekWire. “Our lockers are designed with built-in safety features, including internal safety levers and teams who can open the lockers remotely.”
The incident occurred in an Amazon Locker in the community center at the Radford Court apartment complex at 6301 65th Ave. N.E.
An alert was posted on the Citizen public safety app, which was then shared on r/Seattle on Reddit. GeekWire also listened to the SPD and SFD call on Broadcastify.
It’s unclear how the child, who was reportedly playing with another boy, got into the locker. The units, which are usually placed near grocery stores or apartment buildings, are intended for self-service retrieval of Amazon packages and require a customer’s package confirmation information to open.
The Hub at this location features lockers of varying sizes, some clearly big enough for a child to get into.
Safety features on the lockers include highly visible levers which allow a locker to be opened from the inside. Contact information for Amazon’s remote locker support team is printed on lockers and the team can open lockers remotely. Additionally, lockers in apartment complexes can be accessed by property managers who have the ability to open any slot.
It’s unclear how the boy was freed from the locker on Sunday.
At one point during the dispatch call posted on Broadcastify, Seattle Fire said it was “requesting SPD in case they have to break the locker to get the child out.”
SPD said the child was safe with his parents and in good health on Sunday evening.
