South Carolina’s local bomb squad responded Tuesday after a child discovered a grenade in a backyard.
Around 5:18 p.m. local time, Forest Acres Police Department (FAPD) officers were dispatched to Dalloz Road in Forest Acres, where a child found a grenade buried in their yard, according to the department’s Facebook page. According to police, the child found the weapon “inside a concrete block.”
The Richland County Bomb Squad also responded and “assisted in the disposal of the weapon,” according to Forest Acres police, while Columbia firefighters were on standby. The grenade was not a battery and the bomb squad determined it was a “training weapon”.
Forest Acres Police Department vehicle.
Forest Acres Police Department
The grenade was then retrieved by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
The Forest Acres Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“We thank the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, especially their bomb squad, for their quick response and work to keep this neighborhood and family safe,” FAPD Chief Don Robinson said in a statement included in the department’s Facebook post.
A diver found a live tear gas shell from the early 2000s while exploring Lake Oklahoma
“A lot of training hours go into this subset of the police force and we appreciate being able to call on such a skilled group of officers when needed,” Robinson added.
According to Post and Courierciting a local report of the incident, a police cordon was placed around the house and the locals were asked to stay in the outermost parts of their homes.
The latest grenade discovery in South Carolina comes more than eight months after a 47-year-old father was killed when he and his children were sorting through their grandfather’s belongings in Indiana after someone found the grenade and pulled the pin, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.
The man, later identified by the Lake County Coroner’s Office as Bryan Niedert (according to NBC News), was found unresponsive at the scene.
His 18-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son were taken to a local hospital with shrapnel wounds.
As The New York Times At the time, he noted that shell detonations were becoming less frequent, and explosives expert Lt. Col. Robert Leiendecker noted that “there are many hand grenades in private homes, parts of collections, or war memorabilia that families keep.”
“A very, very high percentage is completely inert and safe to handle.”
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A few weeks after the death in Indiana, a diver in Oklahoma also discovered a shell while searching the local Lake Murray.
The Love County Sheriff’s Office noted on June 1 that a diver told authorities shortly after noon that he discovered “some type of bomb or smoke grenade.”
It was found to be a CS gas grenade from the 2000s. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad picked up the grenade and said at the time that they intended to destroy it.
“This is a great example of a citizen who located something they knew was dangerous and contacted the perpetrators so it could be properly disposed of,” said Love County Sheriff Andy Cumberledge.
“If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, please contact our office so we can assist you in disposing of dangerous devices such as this in a safe and secure manner,” he added.
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Source: HIS Education