The Explosive Disposal Unit's robot climbs the Sutton Park gazebo steps to get into position to detonate a suspicious object thought to possibly be a bomb.
Cheney's Sutton Park was shutdown last Thursday due to a suspicious object law enforcement officials thought might be a bomb found inside the park's gazebo.
Police Chief John Hensley said they received a call around 11 a.m. from staff at the nearby Eastern Washington University Children's Center, who noticed the object while using the park along with children from the facility. Officer Matt Pumphrey responded and approached the gazebo, seeing what was described as a Gatorade bottle wrapped in wires and a small, black box attached to the bottom, what Hensley said they thought might be a timer.
"It looked too real to approach, pick up and deal with," Hensley said.
Cheney and EWU police taped off the park around the gazebo and set up traffic barricades on street approaches. The Children's Center was also locked down for the duration of the event, with staff and children sheltering on the north side of the facility opposite the park.
The Explosive Disposal Unit, a joint effort between the Spokane County Sheriff's Office and city of Spokane Police Department, arrived around 11:30 a.m.
Upon initial examination with the unit's remote-controlled robot, the team proposed using water to shoot the device off the gazebo and out into the park. Hensley said after more discussion, the team felt the device looked real enough to warrant destroying it with a controlled detonation, which was safely done.
The park was eventually reopened around 12:30 p.m., and Hensley said they were able to collect pieces of the device for analysis.
He also said a maintenance employee at Eastern told officers he noticed a group of kids and adults using the gazebo around 7:30 that morning. The only documented use of the historic structure, which was originally situated near the commandant's residence at Fort Sherman in Coeur d'Alene in the late 19th century before being moved to Fort Wright in Spokane and then Cheney in the early 1980s, was a concert the night before.
The gazebo also recently underwent over $20,000 in repairs to shore up a deteriorating foundation.
Hensley said they would contact Parks and Recreation to see if they might know who the group was. It's possible that whoever planted the device was nearby during Thursday's incident.
"The knucklehead was probably somewhere around watching us jump through hoops," Hensley said.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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