Paul Davis was bush-hogging a field near Countryside subdivision in east Daviess County on Thursday, when he says he came across a large metal box, often referred to as an ammunition box. Inside, Davis said he discovered handguns, crystal meth and at least three shrapnel-type bombs, prompting him to notify the authorities.
“I figured I’d see what it was,” he said. “One of [the explosives] was in a clear container and two of them were duct-taped. There were several different items inside, from guns to crystal meth.”
Once Davis realized what the ammunition box contained, he immediately called 911. The Daviess County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and made a request for Owensboro Police Department’s bomb squad.
“They told me that some of the items in that box could have exploded,” Davis said.
DCSO Head of Criminal Investigations Bill Thompson said Thursday that the bomb squad had performed a roadside detonation with at least one of the devices. While all the pieces of that particular device are being logged into evidence, Thompson said he isn’t sure there were three bombs inside the box, per se.
“There was a lot of material in there that could’ve possibly been used to manufacture a bomb,” he said. “One [device] in there was capable of exploding, incinerating.”
The incident occurred near Country Heights Elementary School on KY 54 around 2 p.m., right as school was about to let out. Parents were notified by Daviess County Public Schools that a suspicious device had been found near the school, and that students may be late returning home as many busses were being delayed.
However, busses were eventually able to redirect their routes around the incident. The entrance to Countryside subdivision remained blocked off for much of the afternoon.
As of now, no suspects have been named in connection with Thursday’s finding. Davis said he discovered the box in a field, about 100 feet off KY 54.
“They would have had to drive or carry it to that point,” he said of the box’s potential owner. “It was pretty heavy. They may have tossed it over as they were driving, but I have no idea how it got there.”
Davis also said he has no idea why the box would have been put there, though he speculated that maybe someone was trying to hide it in the field. Still, there’s no clear answer, he said.
Davis said this incident scared him the most because of its close proximity to CHES.
“I was just worried, with it being that close to a school,” he said. “You just don’t know what they were planning on using it for.”
