Bomb squad called over suspicious item found on river bank in Fulton County

A suspicious item resembling a bomb resulted in a near four-hour closure of Olson Road in Rochester Tuesday. 

Fulton County Sheriff Travis Heishman reports that the item, which was cylindrical in shape, was found on the bank of the Tippecanoe River by a man walking his dog. Police were dispatched to the area of Olson Road and Forrest Lane at approximately 4:55 p.m., following the man's report. The roadway was closed to the public shortly after and remained closed until about 9 p.m. 

"Through an abundance of caution, the state police bomb squad was called in to make sure everything was safe," Heishman said. 

"Whoever did it had the intent to make it look like a bomb and get people worried," he added when asked if the item could simply have been used to hold fishing rods. 

The Indiana State Police Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team arrived to the scene around 6:30 p.m. and deployed a robot to examine the item. That robot was used to move it from the river bank to more level terrain for further examination, which determined it was not a bomb.

"It takes a ridiculous amount of resources to handle these things," Heishman said, noting this particular incident prompted the response of law enforcement officers from all over the northern part of the state. "We have to treat them all like they're legit."

He added that it didn't appear as though anyone in particular was targeted by the bomb scare, the second for the county in less than two weeks. 

A suspicious package wrapped in duct tape with exposed wires was found at Goodwill in Rochester on April 14 and prompted the response of two EOD teams to the store that afternoon. Once it was determined that there was no threat, the package was opened and found to contain batteries and speaker wires. It was reportedly found in a large bin of other donated items.