Two explosive devices found on middle school playground in Richland

RICHLAND, Wash. -- A middle school in the Tri-Cities area was placed on lockdown briefly while authorities removed two explosive devices found on a playground.

The Tri-City Herald reports Richland police were notified Wednesday morning that a maintenance worker had found two questionable devices at Chief Joseph Middle School.

Richland police Capt. Mike Cobb says one of the devices appeared to be an explosive that had detonated. Both items were described as cylindrical homemade explosives with duct tape. A powdery substance, similar to gunpowder, was also found in the explosives.

The device that exploded caused no damage. The other was to be detonated at a remote range location, Cobb said. The police bomb squad removed both using a robot.

Cobb says students and staff were not in danger during the incident.