| By Neil Johnson, reporter/anchor WCLO Radio |
A bomb squad is disposing of an explosive reported Friday at the Janesville Goodwill store. Dane County bomb squad authorities say they think it’s a live “cluster bomblet” — a small, multi-cell explosive packed with metal shrapnel.
Police have reopened the area around Holiday and North Lexington drives as of early Friday afternoon after evacuating several offices and retail stores for a few hours at the busy shopping area near the Goodwill.
Janesville police Sgt. Benji Thompson says police have removed the apparently live, military-grade cluster bomb, and a bomb squad aims to dispose of it. He says there’s no continued threat to the public.
Thompson said authorities don’t know who dropped off a donated bag of items at the Goodwill at 2003 Holiday Drive that contained live ammunition and a bomb-like device. X-rays by the bomb squad that showed a device with several live cells filled with apparent explosives and shards of metal.
Thompson says it’s not clear whether someone dropped off the explosive with “malicious” intent, but he thinks it may have been in storage at the Goodwill for a week or so before it was reported. He says it’s not unheard of for people to inadvertently drop off antique explosives, ammo, or even hand grenades in bags of goods they donate at secondhand stores.
So-called cluster bombs have been in use off and on in military combat since the 1940s.
In this case, Thompson says, police think the person knew they were dropping off a bomb at Goodwill. Police just don’t know why they did it.
He says police want to track down the person who left the device, but that can be hard to do at secondhand stores that take donations day and night, “because everybody usually leaves the items in black garbage bags.”
Goodwill employees who’d been evacuated were standing in the north parking lot at the Uptown Janesville mall. The workers declined to comment on the discovery of the bomb, saying they were not authorized to speak to the news media.
Several businesses and offices, including the Goodwill and Woodman’s Food Market were evacuated for more than two hours as authorities investigated the apparent bomb.
