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Malicious intent unlikely in pipe bomb incident

HARBOR SPRINGS – Michigan State Police defused a pipe bomb discovered at a thrift store in Harbor Springs on Wednesday afternoon.

Carol Grissom, manager of the New Beginnings Thrift Shop, said an employee was sorting through merchandise when she found an item that seemed strange to her. After speaking to another employee, they decided to call the police because they believed they had found a pipe bomb.

Michigan State Police responded to the call and requested the building be evacuated for safety reasons. The Michigan State Police Bomb Squad and the Michigan State Police Canine Unit then arrived on scene.

Using an X-ray, police determined that one of the two pipe bombs contained a fuse and powder.

More: Pipe bombs were found among donations at the Harbor Springs thrift store

Grissom said the store receives many deliveries from a larger truck, so there is no way to know who donated the item. She said police indicated there was no reason to believe there was any malicious intent.

Once items are donated, the boxes are sorted by department before being sorted through and placed on the floor.

Grissom wasn't in the store when the pipe bomb was found, but returned to see that people had been evacuated.

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She said staff were trained to evacuate in the event of a fire, but the store had no plan for such an incident as it was a first of its kind for them.

“They were very professional. They wasted no time wondering whether it was real or not,” Grissom said of her co-workers who called police. “It was like, ‘Let’s play it safe. Let's be safe and ask questions when the police come.'”

Although Grissom was worried about finding it, he said there was probably no malicious intent, and what happened was that someone was cleaning out an old garage and threw things they wanted to get rid of into the box without looking closely .

– Contact reporter Karly Graham at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

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