South Dakota News: DANR Issues Algae Warning and Firefighters Deploy to Texas

In West Warwick, Rhode Island, a routine afternoon of magnet fishing turned hazardous on a Thursday in August 2026 when an angler reeled in a live mortar shell from the water beneath the Main Street bridge, triggering local emergency evacuations and road closures.

Magnet Fishing Yields Live Explosive Beneath Main Street Bridge

The unusual discovery unfolded when Gerard Perreault spent less than 20 minutes casting a high-powered magnet into the water near the Main Street bridge. Instead of scrap metal or lost coins, Perreault hooked a heavy object measuring roughly one foot in length, coated entirely in muck and seaweed, and featuring a distinct pointed end.

“I was a little bit spooked too, you know what I mean? I mean, it’s not every day you’re going to find something like that,” Perreault said, recounting the moment to local reporters. Recognizing the potential danger, Perreault carefully lowered the artifact back down beneath the bridge before immediately alerting local law enforcement.

The find prompted swift action from first responders. Police officials locked down the Main Street bridge, creating severe traffic snarls stretching around West Warwick Avenue. As state and local bomb technicians moved in to assess the device, the mandatory safety perimeter expanded rapidly, forcing the evacuation of two nearby apartment buildings.

“Given the size of it, I’m not surprised they, you know, kind of expanded the area a little bit,” Gerard Perreault noted regarding the heavy police response.

Evacuations and Traffic Chaos Impact Downtown West Warwick

Local residents and delivery workers found themselves abruptly halted by police tape and emergency vehicles as specialists went to work.

“It was pretty bad. I was actually in the middle of doing a DoorDash. I’d go up and around, and this was all blocked off, and everybody in Dunkin’ was frantic, and everybody was going crazy,” recalled West Warwick resident Holly Montero. Montero admitted she felt “pretty scared” upon learning the root cause of the commotion, asking aloud, “I was like, what happened? Like, how did it get there?”

Local fire department personnel ultimately classified the retrieved object as an active mortar shell, a military explosive projectile capable of catastrophic damage if mishandled. Authorities eventually transferred the hazardous device to a secure off-site location, where bomb technicians conducted a controlled detonation.

A Repeat Discovery For a Rhode Island Angler

For Perreault, pulling military ordnance out of Rhode Island waterways has oddly become an extraordinary recurring theme. Just weeks prior in July, the magnet fisher pulled hand grenades out of the water near Rocky Point.

Photo: 14news.com

“I can’t even imagine the odds of finding all of these. I’m in complete shock. I think I need to start playing the lottery,” Perreault remarked on the statistical anomaly of his back-to-back explosive recoveries.

Following his second brush with unexploded military hardware in a matter of weeks, Perreault offered a straightforward warning to fellow hobbyists who pull heavy, suspicious objects from public rivers and lakes. “Call the cops. Don’t handle it yourself. Don’t do anything about it, you know what I mean?” he advised. “They’re the professionals. You don’t want to risk anything.”

The Broader Dangers of Aquatic Metal Detecting