Bomb Squad Destroys Possible Grenade, 2 Freeway Briefly Closed

The Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad destroyed a suspicious package Saturday morning that police said looked like a grenade in Echo Park.

The possible grenade was found by Caltrans maintenance workers at around 9 a.m. and reported as a suspicious package, according to LAPD Capt. John Incontro. The LAPD and California Highway Patrol closed down Glendale Boulevard near the 2 Freeway and one direction of the Freeway as the bomb squad investigated.

The package, which Incontro said resembled a "military-style grenade," was destroyed at 10:55 a.m., police said, in a process called "dispersal" that came with an audible explosion.

Investigators hadn't determined whether the package was a live grenade, but would conduct an investigation, Incontro said. However, he noted, it's not unheard of for police to find packages like this one.

"Occasionally they’re facsimiles, occasionally they are real," he said. "We can’t see any criminal connection at this point."

The northbound entrance to the freeway was closed down at 9 a.m and traffic rerouted to Allesandro Street.

"Unfortunately we had to disrupt the freeway and disrupt a few people, but it was important to make sure that it was safe for everybody in the area," Incontro said.