Commerce Director of Public Safety Chris Basham said Monday that a patron brought the mortar round into the store earlier in the day without knowing what it was. He said that a bomb squad was called in to examine the device which was determined to be live.
Bassham said that a call was then made to the Army to properly dispose of the ordinance. At around 10:15 p.m., Army personnel left the scene to detonate the bomb, with the device being taken to city-owned property on Ross Street near the former Commerce Fire substation.
The mortar was safely detonated inside of a containment device shortly after 11 p.m. Reports came in that the loud boom could be heard as far away as Campbell.