For shoppers and staff at the Goodwill on 6th Avenue in Tacoma, a routine afternoon of sorting donations on Tuesday suddenly turned tense when an employee spotted what appeared to be a hand grenade in a sorting bin. Tacoma police cleared the building of workers and customers while bomb technicians checked out the device, and the store reopened after the all-clear. No one was hurt.
According to KING5, the grenade-shaped object turned up around 1:06 p.m. at the Goodwill located at 5401 6th Ave. Specialists with the Tacoma Police explosive-ordnance detail used digital radiography to scan the round, determined it was not live, and then removed it from the store.
Police and store response
The News Tribune reported that Tacoma Police spokeswoman Shelbie Boyd said officers oversaw the evacuation and later informed employees the grenade was "inoperable and safe." Once the scene was secured and the device was taken away, the business returned to normal operations.
Goodwill's donation rules
Goodwill’s donation guidelines clearly spell out what not to drop off, including weapons, ammunition, flares and fireworks, and urge donors to double-check items before handing them over. Those rules are laid out on the organization’s donation page at Goodwill, and KING5 noted that various Goodwill-affiliated blogs have chronicled other oddball donations over the years, including preserved animals and medical artifacts.
Not the first time
The Tacoma scare is part of a strange pattern this spring. In Ellsworth, Maine, a Goodwill store was evacuated after a hand grenade turned up in a donation pile, though officials later determined it was inert, according to WABI. And in East Ridge, Tennessee, an employee who found a suspicious item drove it to authorities, where bomb crews ultimately detonated it in a controlled operation, WDEF reported.
Tacoma Police and Goodwill are reminding the public that anyone who comes across what might be ordnance should leave it alone and call 911 so technicians can handle it. Goodwill also continues to stress that hazardous items are not accepted as donations and points donors to resources for safe disposal on its website.
