Inert explosive devices investigated at Sarasota Military Academy

Shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, officers with the Sarasota Police Department responded to Sarasota Military Academy after a student brought a backpack to school that was later deemed suspicious. For safety reasons, school staff moved the backpack outside onto school property before officers arrived.

 As a precaution, authorities moved students and faculty members in the building closest to the backpack to another area of campus. Officers closed Orange Avenue between Eighth Street and 10th streets while examining the backpack. 

A law enforcement bomb squad from a neighboring agency responded and found inactive grenades inside the backpack. The grenades were real but had been drilled out at the bottom. Law enforcement removed the devices, and normal school activities resumed.