Who left live mortar rounds near a Murfreesboro apartment complex?

Federal agents, military officials, state and local authorities are trying to figure out who left a backpack with several live military mortar rounds and a hand grenade laying in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

The mortar rounds and a hand grenade were detonated safely by Fort Campbell officials.

Eric Holloway and his wife have lived in the Ashwood Cove II apartments in Murfreesboro for three years.

They have an 8-year-old son and are happy none of the children in the complex got their hands on the backpack with the mortars inside.

“We all know how kids are. They are going to play with stuff, and mortars, ammunition, anything like that is dangerous,” Holloway said.

Dangerous is an understatement. Murfreesboro police told News 2 the mortar shells seen in the photo were live.

The backpack was found by a maintenance man at the apartments.

“If somebody has live mortar rounds, what says they weren’t going to use them?” Holloway questioned. “That brings us a safety concern for my family.”

Military officials also want to know where the mortar rounds came from and who had them.

They, too, are thankful they didn’t end up in the wrong hands or in the hands of children.

“If a child had been unfortunately enough to encounter it, and one had detonated, the consequences would have been grave,” said Fort Campbell Director of Public Affairs Bob Jenkins. “It would have been very dangerous. Those are military grade and they are designed to be used in a war situation.”

The rounds were detonated by Fort Campbell 52nd EOD (Explosive Ordnance Device) Unit on Wednesday.

“Here in America, fortunately we don’t have combat zone, which is where those weapons are used,” Jenkins said.

He told News 2 special training is needed to properly handle these weapons.

“Those explosions are big, and if the weapon had gone off, any one of them, had gone off in a residential area, the situation would have been very, very serious,” Jenkins explained.

A resident in a home next to the apartment complex found a trash bag of military-style tactical pants in his yard. Police are unclear if it’s related to the live mortar rounds, but they are working with federal authorities to try and find out.

Murfreesboro police are heading the investigation, but also received help from the Tennessee Highway Patrol Bomb Squad; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As of now, no suspects have been identified.

Courtesy of WKRN News 2