In Benton County, a briefcase, a bomb squad and a ‘boom’ in the night

A “boom” heard Saturday evening in the area of Kennedy Road near American Rock Quarry was the Richland Police Department’s bomb squad detonating a suspicious metal briefcase.

The briefcase was left on Kennedy Road near a vineyard west of the quarry, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office reported.

It was upright and “appeared to have been set down out of the way and not thrown from a vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said. Deputies were called to take a look, and they requested the bomb squad and one of Hanford Patrol’s explosive detection K9 teams.

“Ultimately, it was determined to be safer to place a small charge on the briefcase and detonate it since the contents of the briefcase could not be confirmed,” the sheriff’s office said.

Nothing significant was found inside. Kennedy Road briefly was shut down during the incident.

This story was originally published November 19, 2017 at 5:45 PM with the headline "In Benton County, a briefcase, a bomb squad and a ‘boom’ in the night."