Magnet fisherman pulls up WWII-era hand grenade from Rocky Point pier

A magnet fisherman pulled a WWII-era hand grenade from the Rocky Point State Park pier in Rhode Island, prompting an evacuation and a response by state bomb-squad technicians. The incident occurred after Gerard Perreault, 35, of West Warwick went magnet fishing only weeks after taking up the hobby. When he hauled in what was later identified as an Mk 2 “pineapple grenade,” he contacted the Warwick Police Department, which brought in the Rhode Island Bomb Squad. According to Deputy Thomas Groff of the Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Explosive Operations Division, bomb technicians x-rayed the heavily encrusted device and determined it was inert. The pier was cleared of fishermen and other visitors during the late-afternoon discovery. Groff said WWII-era ordnance discoveries are not unusual after decades, but the grenade’s path into the water remains unclear.