A grenade launcher fell out of a moving Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) truck on Sunday after which the agency asked the public to help recover it, according to the Daily Hive.
Also missing from the truck is a green case carrying ammunition for the launcher and a black backpack with electronic equipment.
Police say the items fell from an open hatch of a truck canopy at around 7:30 a.m. on July 23 in the area of Golden Ears Bridge, BC.
A passing motorist alerted the truck driver, a member of the Integrated Emergency Response Team, that a hatch was open.
The driver stopped to check if anything had fallen out and noticed that a camouflage bag with the launcher was missing.
“We are very concerned about the loss of these items and are doing all we can to locate them,” says Staff Sgt. Annie Linteau, Senior Media Relations Officer. “We ask anyone who locates these items to refrain from handling them and to call police immediately.”
The weapon is an Abrams Airborne Manufacturing 40MM Multi-Shot Less-Lethal Tactical Launcher (LTL). It is commonly used for crowd control using less-than-lethal grenades, like those containing tear gas and rubber pellets. It can also fire lethal ammunition.
According to the manufacturer’s website, the LTL can fire six grenades in three seconds, covering a large area.
Police thoroughly searched the area, but did not find the items.
After a 36 hour search, it emerged that a citizen had found the items and alerted the police, UPI reported. According to Linteau, all of the items are accounted for and that it was media coverage that led to the recovery.
An investigation is ongoing to find out how the driver lost the items.
The RCMP is Canada’s federal police. They are known as “Mounties” colloquially and as “the Force” internally. The RCMP was formed in 1920 and employs more than 28,000.
From NTD.tv
