As Miami-Dade Police and the Bomb Squad prepared to detonate a grenade found on the patio of a Miami Gardens home, neighbors were asked to leave their homes.
“Police knocked on the door and asked us to evacuate. All we know is it’s blocked off and we can’t get in,” said Chris Rogers, who lives near 48th Place and 178th Terrace.
Miami-Dade Police would not give details but NBC Miami has learned from residents of the home where the grenade was found that it was discovered on a patio in their backyard.
Natalie Rivera was nearly brought to tears at the realization that her one-year-old daughter came so close to the bomb.
“Imagine! My daughter is always playing out there. If she would have grabbed it…it would have exploded. The house would have exploded!,” Rivera said.
The family’s high pressure situation started around 6 a.m. when Rivera says she heard her house alarm go off as someone tried to break-in through a bedroom window. When she looked outside, she saw two men hopping into a white car and speeding off.
She didn’t call police because she thought it was a failed burglary attempt but a few hours later she made the disturbing discovery.
They called 911 and immediately several police vehicles and the Bomb Squad got to work. They buried the bomb in the back yard and detonated it from a safe distance.
Neighbors were then allowed to return to their homes.
Rivera says the FBI was also called because they suspect this was much more than a burglary attempt.
“We have no one that hates us. No one comes to my mind who would want to do something like this. To do something like this (your goal) is to hurt,” she said.
Rivera said there was a man renting an efficiency behind her home but did not know if he was an intended target. She said she has no reason to believe her family was targeted either.
Police are still investigating how that bomb ended up in the backyard.
