Bazooka Ammo Found in Mantua Storm Drain

Image: This object was found Tuesday morning in a storm drain in the Mantua neighborhood (FCPD).

Talk about a blast from the past.

While checking a storm drain Tuesday morning in the Mantua neighborhood, near Fairfax City, a Fairfax County drain inspector discovered an object that looked like an explosive. So he called the police.

The county police and fire and rescue personnel arrived at about 10:45 a.m. at the location in the 9300 block of Glenbrook Road, according to a police report. They alerted neighbors and kept them at a safe distance as they investigated the mysterious object.

It was determined that the device was an inert round used in a bazooka, and it dated from the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. Since the bazooka round was not explosive, it was likely used in training, the Fairfax County police said.

“It is unknown how it ended up in the storm drain or how long it had been there,” the police said in a statement.

The police and firefighters took the bazooka round and left the scene by 2:30 p.m.