A grenade explosion kills his father and injures his two children

An Indiana father was killed and his two children were injured after he searched through a grandfather’s belongings and found a hand grenade that exploded when someone pulled the pin, authorities said .

The Lake County Sheriff’s Department did not say who pulled the pin at the family home in Lakes of the Four Seasons, a gated community of about 7,300 people and about 140 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

The blast, which occurred shortly before 6.30pm on Saturday, set off shrapnel which injured the father’s 14-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter, who were taken to hospital, the official said. sheriff’s department in a statement. Their conditions were not immediately known as of Sunday evening, and authorities did not identify the family members.

The father was found dead at the scene, the sheriff’s department said.

A bomb disposal team was called to the home “to secure the area and determine if there may be other explosive devices”, authorities said.

The sheriff’s department did not immediately respond to emailed questions Sunday night. His homicide detectives were investigating the explosion.

Such grenade detonations are extremely rare, said Lt. Col. Robert Leiendecker, an explosive ordnance disposal expert and former commander of the 67th Field Artillery Detachment stationed at Fort McNair.

“There are a lot of hand grenades in private homes, parts of collections or war memorabilia that the family kept,” Colonel Leiendecker said. But “a very, very high percentage,” he added, “are totally inert and safe to handle.”

About 15 years ago, the colonel said, it was more common to see families come across war memorabilia like a grenade or rounds of ammunition while cleaning out the attics or closets of World War II veterans. In the vast majority of these cases, Colonel Leiendecker said, the grenades were inert and legal.

“The last thing you want to do with a grenade is pull the pin until you know 1,010% that it’s totally inert,” he said.

It’s likely that when the pin was pulled Saturday in Indiana, there was a thud coming from the grenade as the firing pin hit the primer, Col. Leiendecker said. This moment was probably followed by a three to five second delay. During the delay, a column of black powder would burn up to the detonator before the grenade exploded.

“Don’t do that,” the colonel said. “If you have an explosive object and you are not sure what it is, call the local police and ask them to come and examine it.”

Jean Ismay contributed report.