A fake bomb as it turned out - somebody used modelling clay so the thing would even look real on an XRay. Destroyed it finally with a high-pressure water blast.
Interesting...well post #16 certainly fits your "Tucscon nuts" theory to the letter. Only a nut case would make a fake bomb, and only a truly crazy person or a terrorist builds a real bomb.
I'm confused. Is there a link saying that the Tucson incident was fake? The TV news report said that the police used explosives to disable the bomb three times and they showed them doing it. Then I did a search and found the story that was referred to earlier in the thread by onyx and defenderSD about something similar happening at a Safeway in Canada and that one did mention a water cannon being used on a fake bomb.