Five law enforcement officers were transported to area hospitals after they were injured during a bomb squad training exercise Thursday at a prison facility in Skippack Township, Pennsylvania, according to state officials.
Three members of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad, one Pennsylvania State Police trooper, and an FBI Philadelphia agent were injured when an explosive device prematurely detonated at the SCI Phoenix prison Thursday morning, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections told the Washington Examiner.
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Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the FBI were conducting classes on the site at the time of the explosion, and the county bomb squad was taking part in the training, according to a news release. State police and the Department of Corrections were on the scene but were not involved in the training.
#Update– SCI Phoenix officials say local ATF/FBI instructors were conducting classes on the property of SCI Phoenix when a explosion occurred when Montgomery Co. Bomb squad were installing a device and it pre-maturely exploded. State PD on scene but were not teaching. pic.twitter.com/5SjMHygkG6
— Dan Patrick (@6abcDan) September 15, 2022
“Staff from the Montgomery County Bomb Squad were installing an explosive device for a later class when it prematurely exploded,” the spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “The facility is under normal operations and has not been affected.”
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No reason for the detonation has been given, but the FBI and the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency will conduct a joint investigation into the cause. The Montgomery County Department of Public Safety also responded to the scene to assist.
