by Kate Shunney
A backpack left behind outside the Paw Paw American Legion kicked off an investigation by police on Saturday, July 26 that shut down a main roadway into town for several hours.
Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputy Bradley Knotts responded to reports that a backpack had been left next to the American Legion’s patriotic mural under suspicious circumstances.
Sheriff Johnnie Walter said security video at the Legion showed a Jeep with Virginia tags pulling up to the building, the driver taking out a backpack that had been seat-belted into the vehicle, setting it on the ground and taking a photo of it. The pack had an electrical wire running out of the top, said the sheriff.
Local officers sent a photo of the backpack to the West Virginia State Police for evaluation, and a bomb squad unit from Parkersburg responded to inspect it in person.
Sheriff Walter said it took that unit several hours to arrive, and while police waited, Sheriff’s Deputy Reserve Units shut down the main road into Paw Paw since it passes in front of the Legion.
Bomb experts x-rayed the backpack, which contained clothing and an electric blanket.
Sheriff Walter said the people who mistakenly left the backpack by the mural came back to retrieve it from the Legion the following day.
