Baltimore County Police report that its bomb squad detonated a homemade "bottle bomb" that was found in the parking lot/basketball court behind Cockeysville Senior Center on July 13.
An employee of the senior center, in the 10500 block of York Road, called police at 8:18 a.m. Friday to report that a suspicious 1-liter bottle was found upright in the lot, according to the police report. The bottle was a quarter filled with a green liquid, and the bottle appeared swollen, police said.
A bomb squad robot equipped with a high-pressure water cannon detonated the bottle, which exploded. There were no injuries and police have not yet identified the substance in the bottle.
Police spokeswoman Det. Cathy Batton said there were 15 such devices found in Baltimore County in the past year. She said the police refer to them as chemical reactive devices — but they are more commonly known as bottle bombs.
"These are seen as a prank or a joke, but making one is a felony," she said. "They can do serious harm if they explode, or can even cause chemical burns if they are handled."
She urges anyone seeing a swollen bottle with its cap on to call 911 and not touch it.
