Intern brings fake grenade to courthouse leading to evacuation

NEW YORK (AP) -- Police say an intern at a New York City courthouse brought a fake grenade to work as a gag gift and wound up getting the building evacuated.

The New York Police Department says the 22-year-old man was entering the Queens courthouse around 2 p.m. Thursday when he triggered alarms in a security screening. Officers searched the man and discovered what appeared to be an inert grenade in a gift box he intended to give to someone in the courthouse.

The NYPD later described it as a novelty gift, saying it may have been an attempted prank.

The building was evacuated for around two hours, until the bomb squad gave the all-clear.

A court spokesman tells the Daily News the gift was "not a wise move."

No charges have been filed.