Morgantown man arrested for live flash-bang grenade at Pittsburgh Airport

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WBOY) — A Morgantown man is facing charges after TSA officials discovered a grenade in his bag at a security checkpoint at the Pittsburgh International Airport.

According to the Allegheny County Police Department , Transportation Security Administration officials saw the grenade in a bag at PITT's main security checkpoint at 9:35 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov 12. The Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad later found that the flash-bang grenade was live, and it was "safely removed from the area" and the FBI was notified.

The police department said that the bag containing the grenade belonged to passenger Zachary Velling, 25 of Morgantown. Velling was arrested and transported to the Allegheny County Jail for arraignment and is facing misdemeanor charges for prohibitive offensive weapons and criminal attempt – carrying explosives on conveyances.

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The following photo was provided by the Allegheny County Police Department. The grenade pictured says "if found do not handle notify police or military."

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, flash-bang grenades used to be exempt from explosive regulations, but that law was changed in 2023 to include flash-bomb and smoke grenades . Bringing any kind of explosive onto a plane is illegal in the U.S.

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