A hand grenade that was among items donated to the Value Village in Abbotsford resulted in the store and surrounding businesses being evacuated on Monday afternoon (Feb. 26).
Const. Art Stele, media officer with the Abbotsford Police Department, said police responded at about 3:15 p.m. to a report that an explosive device had been found by staff at the thrift store, located in the Meadow Fair Plaza in the area of South Fraser Way and Clearbrook Road.
Stele said officers evacuated businesses and cordoned off the complex while they waited for the RCMP’s explosives disposal unit (EDU) to arrive.
Once the EDU arrived, they removed the device and determined that it was a decommissioned Second World War hand grenade known as a “Mills bomb,” Stele said. The shopping centre was then reopened to the public.
Stele said police contacted the donor, who informed them that the grenade had served as a paperweight and had been inadvertently donated to Value Village.
