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Bomb squad detonates live WWI shell in Pitt County

For the second time in two weeks, a bomb squad from Seymour Johnson Air Force base was called out to detonate a live World War I munition.

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WINTERVILLE, N.C. — For the second time in two weeks, a bomb squad from Seymour Johnson Air Force base was called out to detonate a live World War I munition.

Authorities said a Pitt County man who was given a WWI mortar shell a decade ago called police Saturday and asked them to get rid of it at his Winterville home.

The bomb squad from Seymour Johnson buried the shell and blew it up.

Authorities said several residents nearby were briefly evacuated as a precaution.

In late June, a Goldsboro couple found a live, German-made WWI hand grenade in the drawer of an antique sewing machine they were restoring. The Seymour Johnson bomb squad also disposed of the grenade.

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