Hilo airport terminal evacuated after 2 inert grenades were found in luggage

Hilo International Airport briefly halted operations this morning when Hawaii Police Department personnel responded to a report by Transportation Security Administration staff that two items resembling grenades were detected during X-ray screening within a carry-on bag belonging to male Japanese national departing the country.

Responding to the 5:44 a.m. call, officers secured and evacuated the terminal area as a precautionary safety measure while the department’s bomb squad arrived on scene and determined the items to be inert grenades.

At 6:45 a.m., police arrested 41-year-old Akito Fukushima of Kanazawa, Japan, for first-degree terroristic threatening.

Fukushima was transported to the Hilo cellblock and remains in custody while detectives continue the investigation.

The airport resumed operations at 6:50 a.m.

Police remind the public that replicas of explosives, such as hand grenades, are prohibited in checked and carry-on baggage. TSA officers also have the discretion to prohibit any item through the screening checkpoint if they believe it poses a security threat.