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Bomb Squad Blows Up WWI Howitzer Shell Found in Attic

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LAPD Bomb Squad vehicle (Photo by Lord Jim via Flickr)

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What was first reported as a "suspicious package" discovered in the attic of a valley building turned out to be a World War I-era howitzer shell, but the bomb squad had to go ahead and blow it up anyhow, just to be safe.The shell was found under the floorboards of the attic of the American Legion Post in Reseda Wednesday afternoon, reports City News Service. The discovery was made while folks were cleaning up the place, but the Los Angeles Police Department says they haven't quite figured out how the century-old device got there in the first place.

No one was evacuated, because authorities thought the shell wasn't live.

When an explosive ordinance detail from the Marine base at Camp Pendleton got to the scene, they noted that, actually, the shell was live. It was removed at about 11 p.m. and blown up about an hour later in West Los Angeles in a safe location near the beach.

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