SALEM, Ore. — Police are investigating after briefly closing part of a public park in Salem for a bomb squad response Thursday afternoon.
The Salem Police Department said that it was following up on a report of a pipe bomb found on one of the park benches. The agency’s bomb squad assessed the device, determining it was a “modified commercial-grade firework” and rendering it safe.
In a post on social media just before 1 p.m., SPD said that the east side of Geer Community Park nearest Hawthorne Avenue was closed due to police activity, with the bomb squad and a police drone on scene…