UPDATED: Explosive device found after man`s medical emergency
May 09--TAHLEQUAH -- Officials discovered a "suspected explosive device" at a Tahlequah propane business Thursday afternoon -- apparently left by coincidence by a man with a medical problem seeking to use the phone at the business.
A backpack containing the device, other explosive components, a handgun and several rounds of ammunition were found at the AmeriGas propane facility, 5050 S. Muskogee Ave., said Tahlequah Police Chief Nate King.
Shortly before noon Thursday, the backpack was reported as a suspicious package at the business. Several agencies responded, including Tahlequah police, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol bomb squad, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Cherokee Nation Marshall Service and Tahlequah Fire Department to investigate the device.
Officials closed more than a mile and a half of U.S. 62 south of Tahlequah and evacuated about 20 businesses, King said.
A man walking in the area apparently left the backpack on the ground as he went into the business seeking to use the phone because of a medical issue, King said.
After an ambulance was called, he reportedly told employees he had a weapon in his bag; that's when police were called, King said.
"It was just a circumstantial thing," King said. "That (AmeriGas) is where he happened to be when he left with EMS."
"His bag had the capability of causing an explosion," King said, but added, "There was no intent to blow up or destroy AmeriGas."
The man was taken to the VA hospital in Muskogee. His condition was not immediately known.
The size and makeup of the device were not released, but its location near the combustive gas was cause for extreme concern, King said.
Bomb squad units rendered the device safe and King said the highway was reopened about 3:30 p.m.
King said he was unsure if the man will face either state or federal charges.
He said that once test results on the device are back, a better determination will be made on prosecution.
AmeriGas vice president Bill Katz on Thursday credited "good work and awareness" by the staff of the Tahlequah location for getting the situation promptly addressed.
Katz said the man appeared sick and was behaving erratically, which he said prompted the staff to become suspicious and phone 911.
He said the event was evidently random and that the man's motivation was unclear as of late Thursday afternoon.
Katz said work resumed at the Tahlequah location after a security sweep showed no further reason for concern.
World Staff Writer David Harper contributed to this story.
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