Tupelo Bomb Squad removed a live grenade from Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday morning after a citizen found it and took it there.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins told The Dispatch the citizen found the grenade while doing construction work at a property in Columbus and brought it to the sheriff’s office at about 8:40 a.m. for disposal.
“This property is owned by a construction company, and when they’re cleaning up other properties, they bring all of their debris and stuff there and dump it,” Hawkins said. “So there’s no telling where it actually was picked up from and brought out there.”
Once the explosive made it to the sheriff’s office, Hawkins said staff were evacuated, inmates were moved to the opposite side of the building and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive was shut down to prevent any vehicles from driving past the building. It remained that way for the roughly 90 minutes it took for the Tupelo Police Department Bomb Squad to arrive and remove the explosive.
“They … did an x-ray of the device itself and saw that it did have a fuse in it and it was live,” Hawkins said. “… So they took it and put it in one of their explosive-proof containers, and they took it back to a location where they detonate stuff, and then dug a hole and put a charge on it and actually detonated it.”
LCSO then returned to normal operations.
Hawkins said the grenade was shaped like a pineapple, likely making it an American MK2 hand grenade. The MK2 was the standard-issue hand grenade used during World War II, according to Collective Awareness to Unexploded Ordnance, an online database that provides explosive hazard information for safety purposes.
With the device being so old, Hawkins said he was glad the potentially devastating incident ended safely.
“It had a lot of mud and dirt and grime and rust built up all over it, but it still had a pin in it, and it still had a spoon on it,” Hawkins said. “… Once they pop that pin, that’s when it becomes dangerous. With it being so old and so rusty, transporting it, moving it around, that pin could break, and it could be potentially bad.”
Hawkins said an explosive-detection K-9 searched the property where the grenade was found, but there were no other devices recovered.
“The property owners are aware of it, and if they’re moving stuff around, they’re going to be extra cautious,” he said. “If they find another device, they’re going to call us.”
Hawkins urged citizens not to handle explosive devices when found.
“We understand that citizens want to do the right thing, but we urge everyone: if you find a grenade, military ordnance or anything that looks like an explosive, do not touch it or transport it,” Hawkins wrote in the press release. “Call 911 immediately and let trained professionals respond to the location. Bringing these items to public places, including the sheriff’s office, puts people at risk.”
The citizen who delivered the device will not be charged, Hawkins said.
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