Alachua County Sheriff deputies secured a live military mine Saturday evening after a Bronson man found it in the ground in Levy County.
About 5 p.m. Saturday, the man called the Levy County Sheriff’s Office after finding an M18A1 Claymore while clearing land, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Brandon Kutner said.
A M18A1 Claymore is a mine filled with shrapnel that fires in one direction, Kutner said.
Kutner said the man called a friend with military experience to examine what he thought could be a fun relic.
"They thought it was actually kind of cool — maybe something that was inert that they could display at the VFW or the American Legion," Kutner said.
It turns out the military ordnance – a technical term for supplies – was still active, but missing an electric blasting cap needed to explode it.
Levy deputies requested members of the Sheriff’s Office Bomb Team, who secured the Claymore after about an hour, Kutner said.
He said the team might have used a robot to inspect the Claymore before approaching in protective suits.
"When it explodes, it’s designed to push that shrapnel and all that material inside the mine toward the enemy target," Kutner said.
U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians are scheduled to pick up the Claymore, which is apparently not unheard of in North Central Florida where military exercises might be conducted, Kutner said.
"I don’t want to say frequently, but it’s not uncommon for the military to come down and collect some sort of military ordnance that was found on land that’s being cleared for development," he said.
Contact Giuseppe Sabella at gsabella@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Gsabella
