Possible explosives force the evacuation of Kansas City, North, apartments

Authorities spent much of Thursday removing suspected explosive devices from a Northland apartment.

Representatives from the Kansas City police bomb and arson squad and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded about 2:30 a.m. to a unit in the Tanglewood apartment complex in the 400 block of Northwest 66th Terrace.

Authorities initially responded to check on a possibly suicidal person at the complex. After contacting the individual and noticing the presence of possible explosive devices, officials evacuated the residents of nearby apartments before re-entering the unit.

“They identified what at this point are suspected improvised homemade explosive devices, along with some precursor chemicals that would be used in such devices,” said John Ham, public information officer for the ATF in Kansas City.

Kansas City police took one person into custody, Ham said.

Although ATF representatives consulted with officials from the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas City, no charges were expected to be filed Thursday, Ham said. Several residents of the apartment complex who had been asked to leave their homes were being allowed back into their units late Thursday afternoon.

“This is about the best possible outcome in these circumstances,” Ham said.

This story was originally published January 8, 2015 at 8:15 AM.