Indiana

Father Killed in Grenade Explosion at Northwest Indiana Home Identified

A 17-year-old boy and 18-year-old woman sustained shrapnel wounds and were taken to an area hospital.

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The Lake County Coroner's Office has identified the father who was killed on Saturday evening when a hand grenade exploded at a home in Northwest Indiana.

Bryan Niedert, 46, was pronounced dead at his residence in the 3400 block of West Lakeshore Drive. The cause and manner of death were pending results of an autopsy, which is set to take place on Monday, according to the coroner's office.

At around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night, deputies with the Lake County Sheriff's Department responded to a reported explosion at a home in the Lakes of the Four Seasons subdivision, an unincorporated community approximately 10 miles east of downtown Crown Point.

Family members were going through a grandfather's belongings when they found a hand grenade. While sheriff's officials initially said that "someone reportedly pulled the pin on the device, in an update Sunday, it remained unclear if that was the case.

As the investigation continued Sunday, detectives were "looking into whether the device may have self detonated due to its age or other factors, whether the pin was pulled or whether any other circumstance may have been involved," according to deputies.

Niedert was found unresponsive at the scene and later pronounced dead. His two children, a 17-year-old boy and 18-year-old woman, sustained shrapnel wounds and were taken to an area hospital.

The Porter County Bomb Squad was called to secure the area and search for any additional explosive devices, according to authorities. The incident remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Department's Crime Scene Investigations unit and homicide detectives.

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