Grenade Found In Maryland Man's Backpack At World Trade Center

TRIBECA, NEW YORK — A Baltimore County man allegedly tried to bring a grenade into the Freedom Tower Thursday morning by hiding it in a backpack, New York City Police said.

One World Trade Center security guards spotted the grenade when Christopher Warren Oler, 24, of Maryland, put his backpack in the x-ray machine around 10:15 a.m., said police and a Port Authority spokesman.

The bomb squad rushed to the north lobby of the tower and determined the grenade was inert by 10:45 a.m., said police.

Oler was arrested by Port Authority police and charges are pending, authorities said. New York officials didn't have a hometown for Oler.

Maryland online court records show a man matching Oler's full name and age live in Phoenix, Maryland, in Baltimore County two years ago when he was ticketed for vandalism and speeding.

By Kathleen Culliton, Patch Staff

Photo courtesy of njellL/Pixabay