2 days ago
Update: 2 men in custody after suspected explosive device found in Grand Forks County traffic stop
Jun. 11—REYNOLDS, N.D. — Two people have been arrested on suspicion of possession of explosives after a suspected explosive device was found during a traffic stop in Grand Forks County.
Driver Gabriel Patrick Messmer, 41, and passenger Christopher Ryan Ringsrud-Knowles, 42, both of Fargo, were taken into custody shortly after noon Wednesday, June 11, and are being held in the Grand Forks County Correctional Center, according to jail documents.
Neither appears to have been formally charged in district court as of Wednesday evening.
Southbound Interstate 29 was closed from about 10:55 a.m. to 1 p.m. between Thompson and Reynolds after a North Dakota Highway Patrol trooper found what was believed to be an explosive device in a passenger vehicle during a traffic stop, according to a press release from the NDHP.
The vehicle, a 2001 Mercedes-Benz CL2, had been stopped at about 8:40 a.m. due to illegal window tint when the trooper, based on probable cause, searched the vehicle and found the device.
The Grand Forks Bomb Squad, made up of personnel from the Grand Forks Sheriff's Office, Grand Forks Police Department and UND Police Department, was contacted and responded to the scene, followed by the road closure for public safety.
At about 12:10 p.m., the device was safely detonated on site, the release said. The bomb squad then used an X-ray screening and other search methods to deem the vehicle cleared. Evidence was then collected. The investigation remains ongoing.
The Thompson Police Department, Reynolds Fire and Altru Ambulance were also involved during the incident.
