Authorities in LaPorte County safely detonated a homemade pipe bomb, and now they’re looking into who made it. A resident found it while clearing trash and litter from a ditch on Welentz Road, just outside of Michigan City, Monday afternoon. She took what she believed was a homemade firework to her home in the 600 block of Longwood Drive and called the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office.
The deputy who responded determined it was a homemade bomb, evacuated the immediate area and called for assistance, according to authorities.
The Porter County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad, LaPorte County Emergency Medical Service and Coolspring Township Firefighters all responded. Bomb technicians determined that the device was stable enough to be moved to a containment trailer. The IED was transported to a nearby field where it was safely detonated.
Authorities say it consisted of two mason jars containing flammable liquid. Each jar contained a pipe bomb, and the devices were connected with a fuse. Porter County Bomb Squad team leader, Captain Larry Sheets, told investigators that the device was made to be destructive or to injure someone and was considered very dangerous. Investigators say they were ale to collect enough remnants of the device to help determine who may have made the device.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office at 219-326-7700.
