Robot uses water cannon to blast suspicious box found in Ore. bank parking lot

By KVAL Web Staff Published: Jan 9, 2009 at 7:09 PM PST
Robot uses water cannon to blast suspicious box found in Ore. bank parking lot
Stock photo: Police agencies use robots in dangerous situations like bomb disposal.

GRANTS Pass, Ore. -- A robot armed with a water cannon destroyed a wooden box with exposed wiring found in the parking lot of a Grants Pass, Ore., bank Friday morning that prompted evacuations at nearby businesses.

Around 8:28 a.m., officers from the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety responded to a report of a suspicious box in the parking lot of Wells Fargo Bank. Bank employees called 911 when they arrived at work and saw the box in the parking lot.

Officers located a wooden box with wiring sticking out of the bottom. The bank and other businesses in the immediate area were evacuated as a precaution, and vehicular and foot traffic was diverted around the scene.

The Oregon State Police bomb squad opened the box using a water cannon on a radio controlled robot. Inside, they found the components of a homemade audio speaker.