A metal detector hobbyist pulled a pipe bomb from waist-deep water at Lewisville Lake. The Denton bomb squad responded and detonated the device.
LEWISVILLE, Texas — For Mike Reiter, metal detecting is a hobby built on the great outdoors and a game of chance — you never know what the next signal might bring.
This week at Lewisville Lake, the gamble paid off in the last way he expected.
“It took me hours just to stop shaking afterwards,” Reiter said. “It was a top three scariest moment in my life.”
Reiter was wading waist-deep in the lake when his detector picked up a strong reading. He worked the object into his metal scoop for a closer look.
“Big signal in the water. I start kicking it into my metal scoop,” he said. “And when I pulled up, that’s when I saw the pipe bomb.”
There was no question in his mind about what he was holding.
“It’s 100% a pipe bomb,” he said.
Reiter brought the device to shore and pulled out his camera while waiting for first responders to arrive.
Lewisville police and fire departments responded quickly, confirmed the device was a pipe bomb and called in the Denton bomb squad. Officers cordoned off the area before the squad detonated it.
“You felt the concussion through your whole body. Just BOOM!” Reiter said.
Lewisville police say devices like this have been used to kill fish — an illegal method of getting an easy catch. Reiter didn’t hold back on how that made him feel.
“Why the heck are there bombs in a park? So, yeah, angry is an understatement,” Reiter said.
Looking back, Reiter knows the chances of finding a pipe bomb — and the risk he took in pulling it out of the water — will stay with him.
“It was pretty stupid,” Reiter said. But he felt he had no other option.
“I just knew I needed to get it out of the water, so the police can access it, and they can determine what to do with it. After that, leaving into the water was not going to happen,” Reiter said.