Law enforcement officials are investigating a Wednesday incident in which a rural Raymond resident brought three homemade explosive devices, which he believed were created and left behind in his garage by a relative, to the Raymond Police Department in the bed of his truck.
Ultimately, two of the homemade devices were “found to be capable of detonation but hadn’t been charged with any explosive” and the third device was deemed to be a homemade smoke bomb, according to a news release from the police department.
The resident arrived at the police station “during the early afternoon hours” on Sept. 14 and explained the situation to a clerk, saying he located the devices in the detached garage of his residence in the Mill Creek Road area of Pacific County, according to the sheriff’s office.
He told the clerk “he believed that a relative had built them while staying at the residence and had left them behind when he moved,” per the sheriff’s office.
A Raymond police officer, along with a Pacific County Sheriff’s deputy, responded, took a photo of the explosives and immediately requested the Pacific County Communications Center contact the Washington State Patrol Explosives Unit, according to the sheriff’s office.
The explosives unit relayed to the officers on scene that the devices appeared to be legitimate and provided officers with some intelligence regarding the devices, adding that the explosives unit was en route and would be there in 90 minutes, per the sheriff’s office.
In the meantime, other law enforcement officers were summoned to help create a safety perimeter based on the anticipated blast path if the devices were to activate.
In addition to the sheriff’s office and the Raymond Police Department, the South Bend Police Department, the Washington State Patrol, the Pacific County Communications Center, the Raymond Fire Department and several citizens and city employees helped or assisted during the incident, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Agency and public cooperation during this incident were vital,” said the sheriff’s office in a news release on Friday.
The explosives unit was able to safely remove the devices from the bed of the truck that they were transported in and systematically disarm the devices until they were deemed inoperable, per the sheriff’s office.
The devices have since been secured as evidence.
Later that evening, after gathering more information and interviewing witnesses, deputies and officers served a search warrant on the residence in the 300 block of Mill Creek Road.
No arrests have been made and the case investigation is ongoing.
