A newspaper delivery man in North Carolina discovered a bomb placed inside of a teddy bear on Thursday, The Associated Press reported.
Anthony Cannon, who works for The Shelby Star, said he noticed the stuffed animal on the side of the road during his normal work route before dawn.
"I thought it was real unusual to be sitting in the middle of the road," Cannon, 42, said in an interview. "It was pitch-black out there. When I picked the bear up some sort of container fell out."
Cannon left the bear on the side of the road and took the mysterious device with him. He arrived at his cousin's house where he further examined it and realized it was dangerous. After calling authorities, a bomb squad from Gastonia came to investigate.
"Within about two minutes of walking up, they said it was an IED and cleared us out of the house," Cannon said.
Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman said Cannon was extremely lucky considering the bomb could have exploded at any time.
"It could have caused personal injury had the device activated," Norman said.
After it was deactivated, the bomb was sent to a lab for testing. Officials are currently investigating the device and searching for clues as to who made it and why.
Just six months ago, another bomb was found in Shelby. In addition, two homemade bombs were found in the same area in 2009 though authorities never found out who was responsible.
The multiple bomb incidents have frightening Cannon and local residents, who are worried that eventually someone will be hurt.
"If a kid had walked down the road and seen that bear, I'm pretty sure they would have picked it up," Cannon said.
