Bomb squad confiscates suspicious materials at Columbia home, sheriff says

A bomb squad was sent to a Columbia home Monday, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said.

Deputies called for the bomb squad after discovering suspicious materials at a home in the 6900 block of Claudia Drive, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. That’s between Two Notch Road and S.C. 277, near the junction with Interstate 20.

No evacuation was ordered, the sheriff’s department said. The bomb squad was called as a precaution, according to the release.

Sheriff’s deputies said they originally went to the home at about 11:30 a.m. in response to a report of a domestic disturbance.

Deputies were told that a family was clearing out the home of a relative who had recently died when another family member, a man in his 30s, arrived and made verbal threats toward the family, according to the release.

The man was detained without incident then gave deputies consent to search his vehicle where materials that could be used to make incendiary devices were discovered, the sheriff’s department said.

Information on what suspicious materials were found was not made available by the sheriff’s department. But the bomb squad collected the materials and an investigation is ongoing, according to the release.

In addition to the bomb squad, deputies said they called the South Carolina Department of Mental Health’s Community Crisis Response and Intervention team, and they took the man into custody to provide him with emergency mental health services.

No one was arrested, according to the sheriff’s department.

This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 1:24 PM.

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription