Bomb located in garage near Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — A bomb was found and destroyed in a garage near Moses Lake Friday morning.

A five-gallon plastic bucket, filled with concrete to conceal an explosive made from gunpowder, match heads and BBs, was destroyed by a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit (EOD) from Yakima as investigators from the FBI, Grant County Sheriff’s Office and Grand Coulee police stood by.

Police were alerted to the bomb after the man living on the property, Wagner Lee Black, 51, Moses Lake, was arrested for domestic violence on Thursday night, according to Grant County sheriff’s deputy Rick Canterbury.

The victim, Black’s girlfriend, called her sister and her sister’s husband to come to the home for a visit. The victim allegedly told them Black was making bombs in the garage. The husband, of the victim’s sister, went to the garage and found the plastic bucket with a fuse sticking out of the side of it and matches attached to the end. They called 9-1-1.

The sheriff’s office arrived and requested assistance from Grand Coulee police officer Sean Cook, who handles a bomb sniffing dog for federal agencies, Canterbury said. The dog was walked around the outside of the garage and it indicated explosives were present.

The EOD was summoned and when searching the garage they located the bomb, detonation cord casing and black powder pulled from shotgun shells, according to Canterbury.

Several methods were used to destroy the bomb. The EOD  used a high-powered water-shotgun to remove concrete from the bucket. They used a .50 caliber rifle round and a small amount of C4 explosives to destroy the bomb without detonating it.

During the attempts to uncover and destroy the device, state Route 17 near the intersection with Airway Drive was closed five times for safety, according to Grant County Undersheriff John Turley.

Investigators were still determining the power of the bomb, but one expert estimated it would have at least destroyed the 20-foot by 20-foot garage it was in.

Black has not been arrested for the bomb. He was arrested for domestic violence before the bomb was found.

“We’ve asked the prosecutor to hold him or we’ll get a federal hold,” said Turley.

No connection between the plastic bucket bomb and the pipe bombs used to murder two men last August has been found.

“It’s undetermined if there’s any connection or nexus to any of the pipe bombs, but it will be investigated,” Turley said.

Two pipe bombs killed William Arleigh Walker, 69, Moses Lake, on Aug. 2 and Javier Martinez Adame, 53, Moses Lake, on Aug. 3. There have been no arrests in either murder case.

Investigators were collecting evidence in the garage on Friday and the investigation continues.

Complete story in Monday's Columbia Basin Herald