Seven homes evacuated after military shell found in San Diego neighborhood

Seven homes in the upscale Tierrasanta neighborhood of San Diego were evacuated Wednesday morning after a construction crew found an unexploded military shell, San Diego police said.

The shell was found during digging by a crew from San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Military bomb specialists and members of the Metro Arson Strike Team detonated the shell without incident.

Tierrasanta was the site of the military base Camp Elliott during World War II.

In 1983, two 8-year-old boys were killed and a 12-year-old boy was injured in the explosion of a piece of military ordnance they had found in a vacant field near their Tierrasanta homes. A sweep of the area was ordered as a result.

Wednesday's evacuation lasted about an hour, officials said.

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-- Tony Perry in San Diego