Key West Police Secure Mortar Shell Found at Thai Island Restaurant

Photo by: Key West Police Department

In Key West on October 29, a construction crew uncovered an old mortar shell. This discovery led officials to evacuate the nearby area and shut down a street for almost four hours, according to the police.

The shell was found on the Thai Island Restaurant property off the Palm Avenue Causeway around 1 p.m., as reported by Key West police. The restaurant was closed at the time of the discovery, police spokeswoman Alyson Crean noted.

Police shut down Palm Avenue in both directions from Eisenhower Drive to North Roosevelt Boulevard, reopening it shortly before 5 p.m. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad secured the shell, which was then transferred to a U.S. military Explosives Ordnance Disposal team, stated sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.

Authorities are uncertain how the shell ended up buried there, Linhardt mentioned. Considering Key West’s extensive history with the U.S. military—starting from when the Navy established a base in present-day Mallory Square in 1823 for anti-piracy missions—it’s not entirely unexpected that ordnance might occasionally be left behind during the nation’s numerous conflicts.