Explosive Device

Pennsylvania State Police said they responded to a call of an explosive device that was found Sunday afternoon on Bear Valley Road in St. Thomas Township. The unspecified device was rendered safe by the Pennsylvania State Police Hazardous Device and Explosives Section, according to a news release.

Pfc. Aaron M. Genevie, 22, of Chambersburg, Pa., died Monday in Baghdad of wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday. Read more in Wednesday's Herald-Mail newspapers.

A 28-year-old man who died early Sunday after he was shot in the parking lot of a Berkeley County sports bar was a Purple Heart recipient who served in Iraq with the Mississippi Army National Guard, according to a National Guard spokesman. Samson Edmond of Columbus, Miss., was pronounced dead at City Hospital in Martinsburg after being shot once in the chest at The Brickhouse Bar & Grill along Mid-Atlantic Parkway, according to police. The shooting was reported at 2:55 a.m., police said.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Two people were charged late Wednesday in connection with a homemade explosive device that was placed inside a newspaper vending machine in Martinsburg, which roused neighbors and sounded like a "huge explosion," a police official said. Dustin Wayne Stout, 22, of no fixed address, was charged with criminal use of a destructive device, explosive material or incendiary device. Andrew Lee Pauley, 18, of 727 W. King St., Martinsburg, was charged with illegal possession of a destructive device.

FREDERICK, Md. - The intersection of Crestwood Village Boulevard and Ballenger Creek Pike was closed for about 30 minutes Sunday morning while police and fire officials checked out a suspicious package near Frederick County National Bank, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Department. Deputies arrived at the scene at about 11 a.m. and found two cans taped together with duct tape lying on the sidewalk next to the bank, police said. The intersection was closed to all traffic until deputy state fire marshals from Frederick and Washington counties examined the bomb with an X-ray machine and determined it was not an explosive device, police said.

charlestown@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Two members of a local West Virginia Air National Guard unit injured by an explosive device in Iraq in June were presented Sunday with Purple Heart awards. Staff Sgt. Brad Runkles and Staff Sgt. Derek J. Brown were among five members of the 167th Airlift Wing honored during a ceremony at the base Sunday afternoon. Runkles and Brown were injured when the vehicle in which they were riding came in contact with an improvised explosive device June 28, said Lt. Col. Roger Sencindiver.

Hay bales stolen from Fulton Co. field McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - Troopers on Friday were investigating the theft of six hay bales taken from a field near the Warfordsburg Community Center in Bethel Township, Pa., according to a Pennsylvania State Police press release. The hay bales, which weighed about 800 pounds each, were taken Dec. 21 or 22, police said. Anyone with information on the theft may call Pennsylvania State Police at 717-485-3131 or Fulton County Crime Solvers at 717-485-5771.

HAGERSTOWN andrews@herald-mail.com Someone threatened to detonate an explosive device at the Hagerstown water treatment plant last week, but authorities weren't alerted until the next day, the city's fire marshal said Thursday. Fire Marshal Tom Brown would not comment on how the threat was made or who made it. He said a criminal investigation was under way. Brown also would not say whether a Water and Sewer Department employee was responsible for the threat, referring that question to Human Resources Director Donna Messina.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Police are looking for a woman who robbed a Martinsburg bank Monday afternoon. Martinsburg Police Det. Sgt. George Swartwood said police were called to First United Bank, 980 Foxcroft Ave., at 1:30 p.m. for a report of a bank robbery. Police said the woman approached a teller and gave her a note demanding money. She told the teller that she had an explosive device, police said in a news release. The teller gave the woman an undisclosed amount of money and the woman left the bank, police said.

ARLINGTON, VA. - At Section 60, Gravesite 8618, U.S. Army Spc. Aaron Michael Genevie was buried Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, two weeks after he was killed by an explosive device while serving in Iraq. Genevie, of Chambersburg, Pa., was 22 years old. Dozens of people attended the 15-minute service on a warm, windy day. Genevie was given standard military honors. While Genevie's family sat solemnly near his casket, Lt. Col. James Gray, an Army chaplain, delivered a eulogy that mentioned "sacrifice" and "how precious life is. " Six members of an honor guard held an American flag taut over the casket while Gray spoke.

A 28-year-old man who died early Sunday after he was shot in the parking lot of a Berkeley County sports bar was a Purple Heart recipient who served in Iraq with the Mississippi Army National Guard, according to a National Guard spokesman. Samson Edmond of Columbus, Miss., was pronounced dead at City Hospital in Martinsburg after being shot once in the chest at The Brickhouse Bar & Grill along Mid-Atlantic Parkway, according to police. The shooting was reported at 2:55 a.m., police said.

Approximately 100 people participated in a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project on Sunday that centered around a 75-mile ride to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., organizer Chad Craig said. Forty motorcycles and a couple cars took part in the Ride for Recovery, which was sponsored byHarley-Davidsonof Williamsport, Cancun Cantina and 101.5 Bob Rocks, said Craig, who organized the event with his wife, Lisa. The ride began at theHarley-Davidsonshop, and participants were invited to Cancun Cantina for a party afterward, he said.

The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said it collected evidence that it alleges was used to make improvised explosive devices at a residence near Hancock. The evidence was seized early Sunday from a home at 13806 Orchard Ridge Road, according to a fire marshal's office news release. The fire marshal's office said it believes the suspect, whose name has not been released, attempted to make improvised explosive devices in the back yard. The Washington County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene, the release said.

Pennsylvania State Police said they responded to a call of an explosive device that was found Sunday afternoon on Bear Valley Road in St. Thomas Township. The unspecified device was rendered safe by the Pennsylvania State Police Hazardous Device and Explosives Section, according to a news release.

A 61-year-old man on federal probation for a firearm possession conviction was sentenced to prison Tuesday in Berkeley County Circuit Court for attempting to make small bombs in his backyard. Larry Junior Whalen of Martinsburg was ordered by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes to serve one to three years and pay court costs as part of a binding plea. The defendant entered a guilty plead under Alford circumstances to one count of attempting to manufacture a destructive device.

The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the detonation of a soda-bottle bomb early Monday morning in the parking lot of the Spring Hill Suites hotel on Valley Mall Road nearHagerstown. Two of the devices were placed in the parking lot of the hotel at 17280 Valley Mall Road, but only one exploded, said Bruce Bouch, a spokesman for the fire marshal's office. The incident was reported at about 1:45 a.m., according to a news release from the  fire marshal's office.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- A man who railed against the Discovery Channel's environmental programming for years burst into the company's headquarters with at least one explosive device strapped to his body Wednesday and took three people hostage at gunpoint before police shot him to death, officials said. The hostages -- two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard -- were unhurt after the four-hour standoff. Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said tactical officers moved in after officers monitoring Lee on building security cameras saw him pull out a handgun and point it at a hostage.

Dynamite and explosive devices were found Monday morning inside an old car parked on a property in the 15000 block of Dellinger Road in Williamsport, according to Maryland State Fire Marshal Deputy Joseph G. Zurolo. The car was parked in a detatched garage on 36 acres, and members of the fire marshal's office bomb squad were alerted to the presence of the explosives when a relative of the former resident discovered the material while cleaning, the fire marshal said in a prepared release.

Correction The story below incorrectly described Sharon Kronawetter's role with the North Hagerstown High School Band Boosters. She is a co-president of that organization. In addition, Kronawetter, in an e-mail, said her comment about what should have been done with what authorities called "a phony destructive device" found at the school was inaccurate. Kronawetter wrote that she said, "It was a leftover prop that should have not have been left behind. " The Herald-Mail apologizes for the mistakes.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA. - Seventeen months to the day after their son died of wounds he received in Iraq, Edward C. and Brenda Shaffer on Tuesday passed through a gate named for another fallen soldier for the dedication of the Sgt. Edward W. Shaffer Less Than Truckload Facility. "This is overwhelming. Everybody coming together in the whole county and all the towns around and doing this all for my son. He was kind of a shy fellow anyhow," Edward C. Shaffer said. "It means a lot. It'll keep his memory going for a long time.