Father dead and 2 teens injured after grenade detonates in Indiana home

An Indiana man was killed and his two teenage children were injured when a live grenade among the grandfather’s belongings detonated on Saturday, according to law enforcement officials. 

Police officers responded to reports of an explosion at a home in the 3400 block of W. Lakeshore Drive in Lake of the Four Seasons at around 6:30 p.m., according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. When the police arrived, they found Bryan Niedert, 47, unresponsive. He died soon after. 

Niedert’s teenage children, an 18-year-old female and a 14-year-old male were wounded from shrapnel wounds. They were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated. 

A subsequent investigation found that the family was going through their grandfather’s belongings, who was a military veteran, when they found the grenade. Someone among the family then pulled the pin from the grenade, causing the explosion, said Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. in a statement. 

A bomb squad from neighboring Porter County was sent to the scene of the explosion to secure the area and determine if there were any other explosives within the home, reported Fox News. 

The coroner’s office said an autopsy would be performed on Nidert’s remains on Monday. "Injuries, cause, and manner of death are all pending," it said in a statement.

An investigation into the incident is being conducted by Lake County Sheriff’s Department Homicide detectives. Detectives are "looking into whether the device may have self-detonated due to its age or other factors, whether the pin was pulled or whether any other circumstance may have been involved," according to deputies.

Authorities say that anyone who finds a grenade or other explosives should immediately call 911.