An eviction at the Farmhouse Apartments on Lyons Farm Parkway in Murfreesboro turned into something closer to a training scene than a routine call, after Rutherford County deputies clearing out a unit discovered what officials described as military-style props and munitions believed to be inert. The find triggered an explosive ordnance response, with one suspected artillery round destroyed in a controlled blast while fire-rescue, emergency medical crews, and federal partners stood by, according to the sheriff’s office.
What Officials Say
Deputies came across the cache while carrying out the eviction, Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Captain David Hailey told WKRN. The items, Hailey said, “appear to be inert military-style munitions.”
Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh, along with the RCSO’s emergency disposal personnel, responded to the scene and worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to size up the situation. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal destroyed a suspected artillery round,” Fitzhugh said, according to the sheriff’s office.
Local History of Ordnance Finds
Officials treated the discovery as the real deal until proven otherwise, and Murfreesboro has had reason to be cautious. In 2017, a backpack packed with mortar rounds and a training grenade turned up at an apartment complex and had to be rendered safe by a military explosive ordnance team, NewsChannel 5 reported. That earlier case involved Fort Campbell’s 52nd EOD unit and reinforced why local teams often pull in military or federal specialists when they are not certain what they are looking at or how stable it is.
Response and Next Steps
In this week’s incident, the resident had already moved out most of his belongings, and deputies were in the process of clearing what remained when they found the items, WKRN reported. Authorities did not immediately release where the munitions came from or why they were in the apartment…