Goodwill store in suburban Chicago evacuated after employee finds ‘training grenade’

ROUND LAKE BEACH, Ill. — A Goodwill store in a northern Chicago suburb was evacuated on Saturday after an employee found an inactive grenade in a donation box, authorities said.

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The employee found the object among hundreds of recently donated items to the Goodwill in Round Lake Beach, Illinois, the Daily Herald newspaper of Arlington Heights reported.

Police officers determined that the object was an item sold online as a “training grenade.”

A bomb squad was called in because there was a small plug in the hollowed-out section of the grenade, WGN-TV reported. The bomb squad used an X-ray machine to determine that the grenade was not active, according to WFLD-TV.

Round Lake Beach police Chief Wayne Wilde said people should contact the police if they want to discard diffused explosives or weapon, the Daily Herald reported.

“While it’s great to donate unused items you may not need to places like Goodwill and the Salvation Army, people should never donate firearms or diffused explosive devices to these places,” Wilde said in a statement. “People who find or wish to discard these items should contact their local police instead and the police department will assist in the safe removal of these devices if needed.”