DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Dekalb County Police evacuated homes in an Ellenwood subdivision after a neighbor found an explosive device in the trash.
Channel 2′s Tom Regan learned that it was a neighborhood dog that led officials to the explosive device.
The neighbor, who didn’t wish to be identified, said this morning he noticed trash strewn in his front and back yards and told his teenage children to clean it up.
“We have this loose dog in the neighborhood who is just tearing up trash. And we went in the backyard. It was a gun clip and what looked like a fake grenade. When I went out there, I was like. No it looks pretty real,” the neighbor told Channel 2 Action News.
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Then he called 911, and police, firefighters, and bomb removal technicians arrived, asking neighbors to clear the area while they investigated.
Authorities confirmed an explosive device was found at a Flakes Mill Manor Lane home in Ellenwood early Thursday morning.
Police along with a bomb square and first responders arrived after a neighbor’s kids found what appeared to be a dangerous device in a trash bag that a dog had ripped open.
Then the kids called their father.
“But when I went out there, I said this looks pretty real. Went ahead and called the police and they go the bomb people out here.”
Police determined it was a hand grenade that was indeed potentially explosive. Officials safely removed it from the area.
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Anthony Jones, another neighbor, said police came to his door a few minutes after 8 a.m.
“It was 8:16 and there was this cop banging on my door saying you need to leave the area,” Jones told Channel 2 Action News.
Neighbors told Regan that it was a rude awakening on their quiet street as they evacuated.
“I just prayed that everything would be okay,” Cynthia Amby, another neighbor, said. “Then my husband and I and the dog left. My son left as well.”
“I never felt threatened, because they were guiding us, telling us what to do and where to go,” Phyllis Mims, who lives nearby.
The bomb squad safely removed the explosive device and people were allowed to return to their homes within an hour.
Police haven’t said what they did with the live grenade, nor who they think may have put it in the trash.
The incident remains under investigation.
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