Pennsylvania couple finds live Civil War shell in new home's basement

The discovery was made at a house in the 1900 block of Fourth Street (CNN photo)

A young couple in Pennsylvania, United States, discovered a live Civil War-era artillery shell while clearing out the basement of their recently purchased home on Sunday. The couple came across the suspicious object among belongings left behind by the previous owners in South Connellsville, Fayette County.

They contacted the police, who called in a bomb squad to examine it. Specialists later confirmed that the object was a live artillery shell dating back to the American Civil War.The discovery was made at a house in the 1900 block of Fourth Street. According to CBS Pittsburgh, the couple had recently bought the property and were removing items that the former owners had not taken with them. During the cleaning, they noticed something unusual in the basement.

Rather than attempting to identify the object themselves, they decided to inform the authorities.Fayette County 911 confirmed that emergency responders were requested at approximately 1.20 pm after the homeowner reported finding what they believed might be a mortar. At that stage, it was not clear exactly what the object was or whether it posed a danger. Police officers were sent to the property to investigate.

Sergeant Bryan Kendi of the Connellsville Police Department told CBS that the homeowners were a younger couple who had recently moved into the property. He explained that they were sorting through belongings left by the previous occupants when they found the object. The officers who arrived at the house also considered it suspicious and decided that specialists should examine it before any further action was taken.

Police contact bomb squad

After reaching the property, police officers examined the situation and took a photograph of the object. They forwarded the image to the Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad for further assessment.The decision to involve the bomb squad came after the officers determined that the object required specialist attention. Although the homeowner had initially described it as something resembling a mortar, its identity had not yet been established.Bomb squad personnel subsequently travelled to the house in South Connellsville to examine the object in person.Their inspection confirmed that the item was a live Civil War-era artillery shell. What the couple had discovered during an ordinary household clean-up was therefore an explosive military object dating back to the 19th century.The finding also established that the object was not merely an old piece of military equipment or an empty shell. It was identified as live, making its removal a matter for trained bomb disposal specialists.Once the bomb squad had identified the shell, its personnel collected it from the property. According to the police information reported by CBS, the shell was taken away for proper disposal.