Police investigating suspicious devices found in Grants Pass

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Police shut down a Grants Pass street on Tuesday after suspicious devices were found.

“I was like oh, maybe it’s fake and then when I touched it there was a little more weight to it than I thought,” said Stephen Rogers, a landscaper who found the device.

For Rogers, he says it was a typical day on the job on the Northside of Grants Pass.

That’s until he found something he never expected.

“I was basically just picking up glass bottles so we’re not mixing the glass with the debris that we’re taking away. I go and look over… and there’s a grenade,” he said.

Rogers says he immediately called police to the parking lot near McDonalds.

“As soon as the first cop saw it he instantly radioed in and it was closed everything down,” he said.

Grants Pass Department of Public Safety cleared the area closing 7th street off to traffic from Hillcrest North to Morgan Lane. After bringing in the Oregon State Police Bomb Squad, police say they found three more possible explosive devices.

“Within five seconds of digging around, he found the three right underneath where that one was,” said Rogers.

Although police say they’re currently testing if the devices are live, Rogers says he’s sure glad he didn’t do anything to set them off.

“We’re definitely glad too that when he was digging for it he didn’t grab one and crush one and maybe accidentally set one-off,” he said.

It’s not yet known if the devices were active or harmless novelty grenades, which are sold to the general public. In either case, police said they typically act as if the devices are dangerous.

OSP will work to determine the nature of the items and they’ll update GPDPS when they know more.