If you dropped off three hand grenades at the Shelby Township Salvation Army last week, the police would like a word.
On Monday, a store employee stumbled upon the grenades in a donation box. She called the police, who then evacuated nearby businesses as a precaution. Roland Woelkers is the Shelby Township Police Chief. He says within an hour, the Michigan State Police Bomb Squad took the hand grenades away from the Salvation Army to safely deactivate them.
Woelkers doesn't think the person who left the grenades intended any harm. It's more likely that somebody was cleaning out their attic and found Granddad's old souvenirs from the war. In a press release, Chief Woelkers says tossing out explosives is not as rare as you might think.
"In many instances, munitions kept as souvenirs by U.S. servicemen and women are located by family members, without realizing whether those munitions contain explosive material."
Officials still don't know who donated the explosives. Chief Woelkers says police "are conducting an investigation with the detective bureau to determine exactly who brought the grenades and left them there."
Anyone with information about the hand grenades is encouraged to contact the Shelby Township Police Department.
-Lindsay Hall, Michigan Radio Newsroom
