‘Scary incident’: Live grenade among ammo, guns dropped off at B.C. police station

Police in B.C.’s Southern Interior carefully handled an explosive situation earlier this month when a live grenade was brought to the detachment.

Grand Forks RCMP say the incident happened on Dec. 1, when a person came by around 4:40 p.m., wanting to turn in some firearms and ammunition that they didn’t want.

“Unfortunately, also present was a realistic-looking grenade,” said RCMP. “This grenade was immediately seized and safely secured and stored.”

Police say the RCMP’s explosive disposal unit was contacted, which in turn contacted the Canadian Armed Forces.

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“After sending pictures to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit (EOD) of the Canadian military, they felt it was warranted for their attendance,” said police.

“On Dec. 2 in the midafternoon, EOD members attended, and confirmed that the grenade was in fact real and not inert. The grenade was subsequently seized and disposed of.”

Police say when people are cleaning out a family member’s home, they sometimes come across firearms and other weapons.

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“These items should never be transported and brought to a detachment, rather call the police to report this and an officer will attend and seize these items,” said RCMP.

“This was a potentially scary incident in what was later confirmed to be a live grenade brought to the detachment,” said detachment commander Sgt. Darryl Peppler.

“We are trained to treat all firearms and other weapons as live, and this is a good example as to why we do that.”