A man was arrested and several hotel rooms in the 600 block of West Wishkah Street in Aberdeen were evacuated around 4:30 p.m. on Friday after officers found improvised explosive devices “in plain view of a hotel room,” the Aberdeen Police Department reported this week.
The Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad responded and assisted in removing several viable devices from the room without incident.
“This appears to be an isolated incident at this time and there appears to be no further danger to the public,” the Aberdeen Police Department said in a news release.
Aberdeen officers responded at approximately 4:28 p.m. on Sept. 16 after they received a call from a mental health response team informing them “a male was claiming he had modified fireworks into explosives in the 600 block of West Wishkah Street,” according to a news release from the Aberdeen Police Department.
Multiple Aberdeen officers responded and observed “what appeared to be improvised explosive devices, along with other items used to modify and or build improvised explosives,” according to the release.
The adjacent hotel rooms were evacuated and the subject was “detained for everyone’s safety,” according to the release.
After further investigation the male, a 51-year-old current Grays Harbor county resident, was booked into the Aberdeen City Jail and later the Grays Harbor County Jail for possession of incendiary devices pending review and formal charging by the Grays Harbor County Prosecutor’s Office.
During the investigation, Hoquiam police and the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office assisted with priority calls for service in the City of Aberdeen, according to the release.
“We want to thank the persons who initially reported the incident as well as our partner law enforcement agencies for assisting us with other calls for service during the incident,” the Aberdeen Police Department stated in the release.
