Toy grenade causes stir in Spirit Lake

SPIRIT LAKE — A grenade that a Spirit Lake woman found inside her mailbox this morning was a toy.

Law enforcement and the Spokane Bomb Squad responded to the 31000 block of Middle Avenue at 7:12 a.m. to investigate the device.

Eight homes in the area were evacuated as a precaution. Some school bus routes were altered during the investigation.

A bomb squad robot removed the grenade and it was revealed to be a toy.

"Based on my experience (as a K9 handler) overseas, it looked real to me," Spirit Lake Police Chief Keith Hutcheson said, adding that he viewed the device through binoculars. "It was made of hard plastic."

Hutcheson said he wonders if it was children who put the toy in the mailbox because a plastic toy gun was also found in a mailbox in the area.

An investigation continues.