Saugerties Man Finds Live WWII Mortar in Closet Cleaning

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. (AP) — A Hudson Valley police station was evacuated and a bomb squad summoned after a man brought in a live Korean War-era mortar shell he had found while cleaning out a closet.

Saugerties Police Chief Joe Sinagra tells local media that the man wasn't sure what to do with the foot-and-a-half-long shell he found in the house he had just bought. So he brought it to the police station Wednesday afternoon.

Officers with military experience realized the shell was live and brought it out to the parking lot. A state police bomb disposal unit was summoned and identified it as a 75-millimeter U.S.-made mortar shell that was still live and able to explode. They removed it for disposal.

Sinagra said soldiers sometimes brought shells home as souvenirs.

(Story via: The Associated Press)