Inert 1,000-pound bomb from World War II era dug up near Florida airport

Construction workers found an inert 1,000-pound bomb on the future site of a college campus in Florida on Tuesday, officials said. 

They unearthed the World War II-era bomb while working on the future site of the Wilton Simpson Technical College Campus in Brooksville, located by the northeast corner of the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said. Brooksville is about 50 miles north of Tampa.

Officials, who did not immediately know the bomb was inert, evacuated an area of about a half mile in every direction from the bomb.

"Because it is so rusted and decayed, there is certainly no way of telling whether it's live ammunition or inert," Nienhuis said in a video posted to social media after the find.

The bomb squad from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office responded and determined the bomb was inert, officials said. A team from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa also responded. 

Roads in the area were reopened on Tuesday evening.

Authorities with the Sheriff's Office identified the bomb as a M-65 ordnance. The bomb was typically used against reinforced targets, such as dams, concrete or steel railroad bridges, according to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. 

The Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport is located at the site of a former World War II military airfield, according to the airport. It was used for training both pilots and ground crews during the war. Training was done on B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators.

Aliza Chasan

Aliza Chasan is a digital producer at 60 Minutes and CBSNews.com. She has previously written for outlets including PIX11 News, The New York Daily News, Inside Edition and DNAinfo. Aliza covers trending news, often focusing on crime and politics.

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