Old military ordnance sometimes found in the Valley

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

Grenades, mortars and artillery shells.

Those are a few of the types of military ordnance found in the Valley from time to time.

While there don’t seem to be thorough statistics on exactly how many such ordnance is found by the public across Arizona, locally, a few departments have tracked what seems to be a regular occurrence.

Sonu Wasu of the Chandler Police Department said there are a few different ways the agency hears about ordnance found in civilian settings.

“These items were found in storage units, donated to thrift stories in the area, and in one case found lying on a public right-of-way,” she said.

Wasu said Chandler Police, like many Valley law enforcement agencies, often rely on a neighboring municipality whose department has the specialty equipment and/or personnel to deal with explosives.

“Officers will usually call out the Mesa Police Department’s EOD, or Explosive Ordnance Disposal, unit for such calls,” she said.

Often, Wasu said, the item is obviously not an explosive device.

“In all other cases, the Police EOD Unit will confiscate the item and safely dispose of it,” Wasu said.

How often is there a false alarm?

Wasu said CPD received eight calls from Jan 1. 2022 to today in which callers reported a suspicious item resembling a hand grenade.

She said in one case, a reported item found in Chandler turned out to be an insecticide bulb duster.
In another, it was something even more harmless: a cement sculpture.

Occasionally, items are found that are not so benign. One item turned out to be a flash-bang for an airsoft gun.

Detective Sabrina Amyx of the Mesa Police Department said a scan of call data shows Mesa businesses made two calls for service of this type in 2023 and seven in 2024.

Six of those calls were for either grenades, mortars or cannon shells donated at a Goodwill location. Another involved grenades found in a storage unit the reporting party was purchasing.

Goodwill and other thrift chains seem to absorb a fair amount of ordnance in donations. Jim Burke, the director of safety and loss prevention for Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona, said the stories he oversees collectively encounter a donated device of this type about once per year.

One Mesa report involved a grenade a resident found near a light rail line and did the first thing law enforcement advises against — brought it home.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.   Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.