Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 4:00pm By Ed Martin, Editor
This was the scene Friday (May 20) morning when a suspicious object forced police to close down the downtown area as police and fire officials responded quickly.
This was the scene Friday (May 20) morning when a suspicious object forced police to close down the downtown area as police and fire officials responded quickly.

Police learned today (May 24) that the suspicious device that forced the shutdown of downtown last Friday (May 20) was not an explosive device. Lemoore police responded to the incident on Friday and shut down much of downtown Lemoore from about 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. It was about 8:15 a.m. that Lemoore police officers responded to a call of a suspicious object on downtown D Street.

The Tulare County Consolidated Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit responded and removed the object and conducted a further examination of it. On Monday a supervisor with the unit told the Lemoore Police Department that the object contained no incendiary materials.

When officers arrived they contacted the caller, who said that when he went out to his vehicle, which was parked in the 300 block of West D Street, he saw the unusual object on the front of his vehicle. The unidentified person said the car belonged to him, and he lived in an upstairs apartment complex somewhat midway down the 300 block of D Street.

A robotic device can be seen approaching the scene of a suspicious device in downtown Lemoore the morning of May 20.
A robotic device can be seen approaching the scene of a suspicious device in downtown Lemoore the morning of May 20.
Photo Courtesy Lemoore Police Department

At this point the Lemoore Police Department was unsure if the device was the result of some sort of prank or was actually an dangerous object. Police officials said that they immediately contacted the Tulare Ordinance Disposal unit which responded and removed the object, and conducted a further examination of it. Downtown was reopened at 11:30 a.m.

The Tulare Ordinance Disposal Unit used a robotic device to remove the unknown object and conducted tests to determine its true nature.

The item was cylindrical in shape and about 8 inches tall. It had two wires coming out of the top, and wording on the item read that it was a military adapter-booster bomb nose. Lemoore officers immediately closed the block to vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Police officers were manning the entrance to the downtown forcing traffic to detour around the downtown area. "We shut the downtown down as soon as we got there," said Cmdr. Steve Rossi. "We closed the street immediately."

This incident is under investigation by the Lemoore Police Department. Anyone with information is asked to call the police department at (559) 924-9574. "We're hoping it was just a prank. No persons or businesses were threatened," he said.