A homemade bomb hidden inside a soda bottle exploded in a school playground in Montana on Tuesday.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office claimed there were no injuries at Rossiter Elementary School in Helena but they evacuated the building as a precaution following the discovery of the improvised explosive device, (IED).
School officials blocked off the area and phoned police minutes before classes began for the day around 8.20 am.
The IED was described by authorities as a soda bottle type device that had been covered in duct tape.
No threat had been made, authorities said, and no damage to the building was reported.
All Helena District 1 Schools and East Helena Schools remained on lockdown on Tuesday as a thorough search was conducted.
In a Facebook post, East Helena School District 9 said: ‘After an exhaustive search of the school grounds in East Helena by the East Helena Police and the Lewis & Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
‘The District has been cleared to lift the lockdown of the schools. The District will remain cautious as the Sheriff’s Office continues their investigation.’
Sheriff Leo Duttontold ABC News they are not sure exactly when the device exploded, saying it ‘was in a pop bottle.’
He said: ‘It was a pop bottle that had been out on the playground and it had some definitive marks about it.
‘It was covered in duct tape, but we’re not releasing the exact components, but it was an IED.’
‘What precautions have been taken so far is all of the kids in Rossiter school are out for the day, they were given a safe evacuation route over to the little red schoolhouse.
‘We called in the FBI and ATF, our bomb squad is there and we’ll be using a bomb detection dog to clear the area.’
Agents with the FBI and the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) attended the scene to ensure that the area is safe.
Under-sheriff Jason Grimmis said authorities also are conducting sweeps of other schools, along with the state Capitol and government buildings.
There were no threats made against the elementary school or other campuses before the explosion.
Helena is the capital city of Montana, home to about 30,000 people in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Grimms told KOAA: ‘We’re making sure that we do an entire sweep of the school, the interior as well as the exterior, we deployed uniformed officers.
‘There was no phone call or threat, nothing was said to us dramatic or anything like that, nothing created urgency this morning.
He added: ‘We don’t know what time it exploded, what we do know is that it did not explode while there were students there or faculty there, which is a good sign and nobody got hurt.’
An improvised explosive device (IED) a homemade bomb and/or destructive device to destroy, incapacitate, harass, or distract, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
IEDs can come in many forms, ranging from a small pipe bomb to a sophisticated device capable of causing massive damage and loss of life. The term IED came into common use following the Iraq War that began in 2003.
