Bomb found at San Francisco Starbucks disarmed

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- An explosive device was found in a Starbucks coffee shop in central San Francisco on Monday. The building was evacuated and a police bomb squad disarmed the device, authorities said.

A Starbucks employee found the device about 1:15 p.m. (4:15 p.m. ET) on the coffee shop's bathroom floor, police spokesman Neville Gittens said.

"If it had detonated, it would have caused damage," Gittens said. "It was what we consider an IED," an improvised explosive device.

The device was not concealed, he said. Gittens would not describe the explosive's appearance.

Officers told CNN that police were called to investigate a metal flashlight and determined it was an explosive.

The Starbucks employee who found the device told authorities, and the building was evacuated, along with apartments above the coffee shop, Gittens said.

He said a bomb squad team removed the device about 2 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) and detonated it in a controlled explosion outside the building, at the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Bush Street.

The bathroom is kept locked, and anyone who entered it would have needed a key from a store clerk to access it, authorities said.

The store had not received any threats before or after the device was found, Gittens said.

But he added, "We're following some leads. We have some pretty good leads."

In a written statement, Starbucks said it was working "in full cooperation" with San Francisco authorities.

"The safety of our partners and customers is a very high priority for Starbucks," the company statement said. "In order to protect the integrity of the investigation, we cannot provide additional details at this time."

CNN's Augie Martin and Chuck Afflerbach contributed to this report.