Man's bizarre DIY 'rubber bumper' car accessory sparks bomb scare that sent schools into lockdown
A Tennessee man's makeshift car bumper led to 'massive' emergency response over bomb fears.
Poppy Bilderbeck
A Tennessee driver sparked 'a massive, massive response' from emergency services over their makeshift car bumper.
Yesterday morning (Tuesday, 24 October), photos of a device attached to the car parked in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, circulated on social media sparking widespread panic.
Authorities attended the scene to investigate after receiving calls to 911 reporting what appeared to be a bomb on the passenger side doors of the vehicle. Schools in the Siegel school zone were put on lockdown for several hours.
Catch a look at the DIY job here:
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'Several calls' were made to 911 at around 9:39am about a car located at the First Watch restaurant on Medical Center Pkwy, according to the City of Murfreesboro Police Department news report.
The release states the car could be seen with wires and duct tape on its car doors, 'connected to a suction cup on the inside door handle'.
As a result of the calls and ominous set-up on the car's doors, Murfreesboro police attended the scene, locking down nearby schools, as well as evacuating 'all businesses' in the shopping plaza while they investigated.
Leslie Huggins, a member of the public evacuated from a nearby building, told WKRN News 2: "Basically, the door handles looked taped around it, and just not something you would see everyday.
"[...] They told us there is a bomb threat and basically screamed at us to get out of the building."
The owner of the car was eventually contacted by a supervisor from Murfreesboro Police Department via phone.
"He [The car owner] was standing with the other evacuee across the street the entire time, unaware it was his car that promoted the bomb threat calls," the police report reads.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Special Operations Unit was deployed and the car was examined.
It was discovered the construction wasn't a bomb at all, but that the owner of the vehicle had attached 'a makeshift rubber bumper to his car doors with wires to duct tape to prevent dents' - the car was subsequently given the 'all clear' by authorities.
The report notes the Murfreesboro Police Department (MPD), MPD Drone Team, Murfreesboro Fire Rescue Department (MFRD), MFRD Fire Marshal’s Office, Rutherford County Fire Marshal, Tennessee Highway Patrol, ATF, Rutherford County Emergency Management Agency, Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services all attended the scene.
Public information officer for Murfreesboro Police and Fire Rescue, Larry Flowers, told WKRN: "We had a massive, massive response to this location to find out it was a man who was trying to prevent his car from being dented."
City of Murfreesboro Police Department news report resolves: "Since there was no intent to cause harm, the man will not be charged."