The discovery of what appeared to be a live grenade lying in the street at the corner of Trammell Street and Highway 31 kept Atmore police officers and fire fighters busy Wednesday morning.

An anonymous call led to the discovery of the grenade and APD officers spent the better part of an hour redirecting traffic while waiting for assistance from other agencies.

Personnel from Atmore’s National Guard arrived on scene soon after the discovery and identified the item as a “practice grenade” that did not contain the shrapnel housed in a live weapon, but advised calling in a local bomb squad to be safe.

Atmore Police Chief Jason Dean removed the grenade from the area by hand after nearly an hour on the scene. Dean said he described the grenade to officials with the Alabama Pubic Safety Department who then identified the item as a “dummy grenade.” Dean said the grenade was taken back to the police department and examined by a state public safety official, who identified it as a “dummy training grenade” that appeared to be 30 to 35 years old.

“He said it didn’t have any internal mechanism,” Dean said. “It wasn’t a danger to anyone.”

Although it is not yet known how the grenade came to be located in the intersection, Dean said officials told him outdated items of that nature can be purchased from surplus stores and other locations and it is entirely possible it could have fallen from a scrap trailer or a similar vehicle.