On Thursday, April 14, 2011 at approximately 5:00 PM, Waterloo Police received a report from a citizen about a suspicious looking military-type shell on the south shore of the Cedar River between the 6th Street Bridge and the 11th Street Bridge.

Waterloo Police closed off the area and the Waterloo Police Bomb Squad was called in to investigate. The bomb technicians determined that it was an unexploded military ordinance. The shell was approximately eighteen (18) inches in length and the outer casing was starting to degrade so the decision was made to destroy it.

The Waterloo Street Department brought in a truckload of sandbags and then Waterloo Police and Fire personnel formed a "daisy chain" line and passed the sandbags down to the bomb technicians. Sandbags were placed around the device and the technicians used high explosives to detonate and destroy the device.

This operation was completed without incident.

Captain Tim Pillack
Waterloo Police Department
319-291-4336.