Police shut down two lanes of I-470 to destroy explosive device found in Lee’s Summit
An explosive device discovered Wednesday afternoon forced two lanes on Interstate 470 in Lee’s Summit to be shut down.
Officers with the Lee’s Summit Police Department were dispatched around 11:40 a.m. to I-470 and Strother Road, said Sgt. Christopher Depue, a spokesman for the police department.
They contacted the Missouri Department of Transportation employee who had found the suspicious item and an investigation revealed the item appeared to contain commercial grade explosive material.
The Lee’s Summit Explosive Ordinance Disposal team was called for assistance. The unit’s technicians were unable to remove the item from the busy interstate, Depue said.
As a result, traffic was shutdown across both southbound lanes for 30 minutes so that officers could create “a safe zone” to destroy the item, Depue said.
No injuries were reported and traffic reopened shortly thereafter.
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 3:43 PM.
