Members of the Essex County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad safely disposed of an unexploded military shell found by a magnet fisherman in the Passaic River near the Lyndhurst Bridge over the weekend, authorities said.
“The shell, believed to be live, was then secured and removed to a safe location to be detonated,” Nutley police said in a statement.
A fisherman probing the river for metal objects using a magnet found a “military ordnance” below the river’s surface about 3:45 p.m. Saturday near the bridge and Route 21, according to the statement.
“The fisherman immediately notified police,” the statement said. Officers roped off portions of Park Avenue, Route 21, River Road and the bridge until bomb squad members arrived and removed the device, the statement said.
Police did not say how long the shell had been in the river or where it was detonated.
Police Director Alphonse Petracco commended the fisherman for his “quick thinking” in notifying police. In addition to Nutley and Essex County, officers from Belleville and Lyndhurst assisted.
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