A small explosive device near a north Fayette gas station was safely disarmed shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The device was spotted at 7:30 a.m. near a dumpster outside the QuikTrip convenience store by an employee of the store, which is on Ga. Highway 85 north near the Fayette-Clayton county line, officials said.

The Clayton County Bomb Squad disarmed the device using a water cannon to separate what appeared to be an ignition device from a small propane tank similar to those used for portable outdoor cooking stoves, according to Fayette County Sheriff Randall Johnson.

Johnson said it appeared that the device was very real, judging by what he saw via camera system on the bomb squad’s robot.

“It was a good looking apparatus,” he said.

While the bomb squad dealt with the device, Hwy. 85 was shut down in both directions and traffic was rerouted onto Hwys. 279 and 314 to go north and south into and out of Fayetteville. Hwy. 85 has since been reopened fully in both directions.

The device did not explode before it was safely disarmed by the bomb squad, Johnson confirmed.

It’s too early to tell who might be responsible for the incident, but the sheriff’s department will conduct an investigation and evidence was being collected from the scene, Johnson said this morning.

Crews from the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services stood by on the scene until after the device was safely disarmed.

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