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MADISON — A bomb squad with the Greensboro Police Department has determined that a grenade found in a Goodwill store in Rockingham Square shopping center Monday posed no immediate danger to the public.

Madison police removed what they believed was a grenade from the store about 11:40 a.m., after an employee discovered it among donated clothes.

The police gave it to members of the Greensboro hazardous devices team for analysis and disposal.

The team determined the device was a practice grenade used in training exercises that someone had painted green to look like a live grenade, said Greensboro Detective L.A. Oligmueller.

“Even the practice grenade can be modified and made into an explosive device,” Oligmueller said. “It was suspicious to us when we first examined it because the bottom of it was already plugged.”

Oligmueller said that a plug maintains the explosive pressure in a grenade. However, the fuse mechanism of the practice grenade was previously fired, he said.

Cathy Lamb, district manager for Goodwill Industries of Central North Carolina, said she arrived at the store to find the grenade, pin intact, sitting on the desk of a manager who had pulled it out of clothes in a tote bag. They followed company protocol and reported it to the police.

“We never know if these things are real or fake,” Lamb said. “When I touched it, it felt heavy. I thought it looked real in appearance.”

The investigation was handled quietly, Lamb said, and without knowledge of store customers. Other Goodwill stores have encountered fake and authentic weapons among their donations, she said.

“I’m just thankful that our management puts in place good protocol, good procedures,” Lamb said. “There was no real fuss.”

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 627-4881, Ext. 119, or morgan.josey@news-record.com