A man cleaning out a deceased family member's belongings found what he believed was an old hand grenade and, instead of calling 911, carried it straight into the lobby of Lakeland Police Department headquarters. The unexpected delivery on Sunday forced officers to shut down the downtown station, evacuate the area, and call in a bomb squad from Tampa to deal with the device.
Lakeland police described the visitor as a “well-meaning citizen” who had discovered the item while sorting through a family member's personal effects, according to FOX 35 Orlando. In a post on Facebook, the department said officers closed the station at 219 N. Massachusetts Avenue “as a precaution” after the man brought in a box containing the suspected explosive, and that the Tampa Bomb Squad was called in to investigate and ultimately dispose of it, per LakelandPD.
Police set up a perimeter around the headquarters building and established detours on adjacent streets while the bomb squad worked, the department said in the same post. Lakeland headquarters, which sits in the heart of downtown, also houses the city's emergency dispatch operations, according to the City of Lakeland's own department listing. Officers said they would update the public once the station reopened.
Why a Bomb Squad From Another County Responded
Local municipal departments in Polk County do not maintain their own full-time explosive ordnance disposal units, which is why regional emergency agencies routinely call on the Tampa Police Department Bomb Squad when a suspected explosive turns up. Lakeland Fire Rescue and Polk County Fire Rescue crews also staged at the scene to provide hazmat evaluation and decontamination readiness while the device was assessed, according to the department's Facebook update.
It is not the first time Tampa's EOD technicians have been summoned to Lakeland. In August 2024, the same bomb squad was dispatched to inspect a suspicious pressure cooker left near gas pumps on Harden Boulevard, which was ultimately determined to be non-hazardous.
A Recurring Problem for Florida Police Departments
Bringing a suspected explosive to a police station rather than calling for help is a mistake that has played out elsewhere in Florida recently. In April, Cape Coral Police Department headquarters in Lee County was forced to shut down and evacuate surrounding streets after a resident brought an old hand grenade directly into that station's lobby.
Federal regulations enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives classify hand grenades as “destructive devices,” and EOD technicians warn that aging grenades can grow more volatile over time as pins corrode and chemical fillers degrade. Law enforcement and bomb disposal safety guidance urges anyone who discovers a suspected explosive or vintage military ordnance during a home cleanout to leave it undisturbed, evacuate the area, and call 911 rather than transport it themselves.
Sunday's incident came just five days after Lakeland police announced a shift in a different kind of public safety enforcement, moving its citywide School Zone Speed Safety Program from warnings to full $100 civil citations as Polk County students returned to class. Whether the grenade turned out to be live or inert, and exactly when the downtown detours around N. Massachusetts Avenue were lifted, had not been detailed by police as of the department's latest update.
