PALO ALTO – The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad safely detonated a World War II-era artillery shell and grenade after the explosives were found Thursday at a home in Palo Alto, according to police.
A resident of the 2300 block of South Court discovered the devices in a box about 3:10 p.m. while cleaning out the belongings of a deceased relative, the Palo Alto Police Department said in a statement. The box was taken outside and carefully placed on the ground.
The bomb squad joined police officers at the scene and examined the artillery shell and grenade, one of which was determined to be possibly still live, police said.
The devices were later taken to nearby Hoover Park, where the bomb squad conducted a single controlled detonation at 6:51 p.m., police said. No injuries were reported.
Officers closed the South Court driveway and sidewalks between Northern California and Oregon avenues to traffic for about three hours. No homes were evacuated during the incident, but 20 people were asked to leave Hoover Park for safety reasons about 15 minutes before the bomb squad detonated the devices.