Police in Kensington, P.E.I., shut down municipal building over ‘potentially hazardous object’

The municipal building in the central P.E.I. town of Kensington was shut as a precaution on Monday night after someone brought a “potentially hazardous object” to the police force headquartered there. 

The episode meant the town’s planned council meeting had to be postponed for a day because of what a social media post called “unforeseen circumstances,” with residents urged to avoid the area. 

“Kensington Police Service is currently managing a potentially hazardous item located inside the municipal building,” at the corner of Victoria Avenue East and Woodleigh Drive, the force said on social media around 7 p.m. AT.

The same post said officers blocked access to Woodleigh Drive, including a Tim Hortons drive-through, while they dealt with the situation. 

The council meeting for the town of 1,800 people will now be held Tuesday night at 6 p.m.

Police Chief Landon Yuill later told CBC News that a local resident had brought in an old mortar, believed to be from the Second World War. 

He stressed that there was no risk to the public, but police shut down the area as a precaution because the mortar could have been a piece of live munition. 

Yuill said Kensington officials were talking to representatives of the federal Department of National Defence based in Gagetown, N.B., to figure out how to handle the object.

On its website, DND has some advice for what to do if you find “something that looks like unexploded explosive ordnance,” described as military explosives that did not explode or function as intended.

• “Do not touch it, move it, throw things at it or strike it with other objects,” is the first recommendation, saying it could kill or injure someone if it blows up. 
• Then people are advised to make a note of where they saw the object before leaving the location the same way they came to it, and try to prevent anyone else from approaching the object while they await help.
• “As soon as possible, call 911 or contact the local police,” the DND post continues. “If you are working on the site, tell your manager what you found, where you found it and what you did.”