A Rochester man is behind bars today after police say he was carrying a live mortar round in a backpack.
The incident began shortly after midnight Sunday, when officers were sent to the 1600 block of 8 1/2 Street Southeast for a report of someone trying to kick in an apartment door.
The caller knew the 30-year-old suspect, said Capt. John Sherwin; police also learned he might be carrying a gun and a grenade.
The man left on his bicycle before officers arrived, but he was found nearby soon after. Because of the information about possible weapons, the suspect was taken to the ground at gunpoint, Sherwin said.
A search of the backpack he was carrying revealed a replica handgun — a BB gun — as well as the mortar round and several different prescription pills, the report says.
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The St. Paul bomb squad responded to pick up the round, Sherwin said, and preliminarily identified it as a Japanese World War II style mortar round.
The Post-Bulletin typically doesn't identify suspects until they've been identified; the man faces multiple felonies.
