Police say bomb device found near Ohio school

ST. MARYS, Ohio (AP) -- An explosive device was found Tuesday at a gas station near a high school in this western Ohio city, police said.

St. Marys police Chief Greg Foxhoven said the device was found near the gasoline pumps. A second device was found in the apartment of a suspect who was later arrested, Foxhoven said.

A bomb squad disposed of both devices, and no one was injured. Foxhoven said he could not provide a description of the devices.

Deb Vining, manager of the gas station, said the device was inside a backpack left near a pump.

Inside the backpack were two bottles filled with liquid connected by wires, nuts and bolts and what appeared to be a timer, Vining said.

A customer brought the backpack into the station, and it was left by the door for about 45 minutes before employees checked its contents.

"It was scary," Vining said.

The gas station is about a block away from St. Marys Memorial High School and the junior high school.

St. Marys schools Superintendent Mary Riepenhoff said a search of the school buildings and the surrounding areas turned up nothing. She said students were kept inside for lunch but were free to walk about the buildings.

Foxhoven said the suspect is not a student. St. Marys is about 55 miles northwest of Dayton.