Grandfather’s case contained live grenade

A Brazoria woman got an unexpected scare when she discovered a live grenade inside an old gun case belonging to her grandfather.

The woman alerted Brazoria Police to the discovery about 3:24 p.m. Monday.

“I don’t think he knew it was a potential danger. We’re talking about a man who’s probably in his 70s or 80s, he’s in the VA hospital, he’s not doing too well,” said Brazoria Police Chief Neal Longbotham, who responded to the call.

Arriving at the house, Longbotham saw the two grenades. One of them was hollowed out, like a paperweight, while the other was not. Holding the latter grenade in his hand and fearing for the safety of those in the house, Longbotham carried it over to the courtyard of a nearby church, where he set it down.

This was probably “not advisable, but I had it in my hand and wanted to get rid of it,” Longbotham said.

The bomb squad determined the best course of action was to detonate it.

“A hole was dug away from any underground pipelines or utilities, the device was placed in the hole and was successfully detonated without any injury or damage to property,” officials said.

After the detonation and other cleanup activities, the situation ended at 8:55 p.m. the same day.

The man received the grenade 20 years ago, and it could have come from the time of World War II or the Korean War. The bomb squad personnel did not believe it to be from America, according to Longbotham.