A man in a Dartmouth neighbourhood was leaving for work this morning when he stepped onto his porch along Pauline Crescent to have a smoke.
He says that’s when he saw “a big ol’ grenade” there on his porch. It looked like the pin was not properly pulled out, he said.
Halifax Regional Police got the call at about 6:30 a.m. and then closed the street to pedestrians and vehicles. They began evacuating more than a dozen homes, including some on Belle Vista Drive, according to a news release.
A bomb squad was on the scene, and with the help of the Navy’s Fleet Diving Unit, they used a robot to x-ray the grenade and confirm it was still live. They have not revealed whether or not the pin was pulled.
They used the robot to move it away from any nearby homes.
Reporter Jacob Moore was live on scene at the corner of Belle Vista Drive and Pauline Crescent when the police bomb squad detonated the grenade. (Jacob Moore/Acadia Broadcasting)
Reporter Jacob Moore was live on the scene a block away when the bomb squad detonated the grenade at about 3:40 p.m.
Several police cars were blocking the entrance to Pauline Crescent at the time of the detonation in case any debris was launched from the explosion.
Listen: Grenade explosion interrupts reporter live on scene in Dartmouth
Police say no one was injured, no property was damaged, and the streets reopened shortly after, with residents able to return to their homes.
The man asked to remain anonymous because he fears that people may retaliate if he spoke on the record.
He says he has had a difficult past, been in and out of jail, but he says people can change, and on this particular morning, he was just on his way to work like anyone else.
The investigation continues.
Photo: Google maps
