CCPD responds to suspicious package call; pipe bombs located and detonated
Cape Coral police personnel responding Wednesday evening to a call about possible pipe bombs discovered in a golf bag the caller had been given safely secured and then detonated the devices.
Elmon Burton, of the 4500 block of N.W. 27th Street, told police he found what he believed to be pipe bombs in a golf bag that he was given as a gift a couple of months ago.
The golf bag had belonged to a friend of Burton’s, Ronald Torres, who had died. Burton was examining the bag for the first time when he found several PVC pipes with end-caps and what appeared to be fuses coming from the center of the pipe inside of the bag.
Burton contacted a Lee County Sheriff Office deputy who lives in the neighborhood and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office then immediately contacted Cape Coral Police Communications at about 6:15 p.m.
Burton placed the bag in an open field across the street from his house, police said.
“Cape Coral Police officers responded and set up a perimeter, blocking off any entry near the vacant lot where the golf bag was left,” a release issued by the CCPD Thursday states. “The Lee County Bomb Squad arrived and confirmed that nine devices in the bag were in fact live pipe bombs.”
The Incident Command System was activated and a command post was established with the Fire Department and EMS standing by.
“The investigation revealed that the person that owned the golf bag, who is now deceased, suffered from paranoia and most likely made the pipe bombs prior to his death,” officials said, adding the county bomb squad “detonated the pipe bombs without incident.”
Cape Coral Police detectives, meanwhile, interviewed the family members who gave the golf bag to Burton.
A daughter told the detectives that the golf bag belonged to her deceased father and family members were unaware of any explosive devices that were found in the bag, police said.
The detectives also “cleared” Torres’ residence and confirmed no other bombs were inside the home.
Source: Cape Coral Police Department