A man in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, found an unexploded artillery shell in the Waccamaw River and brought it back to his neighborhood, after which the neighborhood was evacuated and the bomb squad was called, according to ABC 15.
The man who found the shell in the river brought it home because he wanted to polish it and use it as a decoration, ABC 15 News reported. After having second thoughts about cleaning it, the man brought it to a workshop on Shetland Lane. An officer who was on the scene said the shell was previously fired but unexploded, as well as rusted.
The area was evacuated within at least 300 feet of the scene and a bomb squad arrived to secure the surrounding area, according to ABC 15 News. Horry County Fire Rescue was also on the scene and retweeted an alert from the Horry County Police Department at 3:12 p.m. on Dec. 28, which told the public to avoid the Shetland Lane area due to an “active incident.” (RELATED: Indiana Fishermen Reel in Apparent Live Grenade)
#HCFR on scene with @horrycountypd . https://t.co/OSJkVMinsn
— Horry SC Fire Rescue (@hcfirerescue) December 28, 2020
The Horry County Police Department updated its alert at 3:33 p.m. to announce that it was leaving the scene and that there was no threat to the community.
UPDATE: HCPD is clearing the scene- there is no threat to the community. https://t.co/A5iEdsOoxd
— Horry County PD (@horrycountypd) December 28, 2020
The scene was fully cleared around 6:40 p.m., according to ABC 15 News.