Man injured after grenade explodes

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- A Carthage man was in intensive care Friday after a grenade exploded in his hand.

The blast seriously injured David McKinney, 43. Carthage police chief Dennis Veach said the U.S. military pineapple grenade was apparently inert -- the kind widely available in military surplus stores -- but someone had filled it with black powder.

"It fragmented just as it is supposed to," Veach said.

It was not clear if McKinney or someone else filled it with the explosive powder.

Witnesses told police McKinney had been drinking extensively before the blast Thursday night. The grenade went off in a detached garage, Veach said. A neighbor found him in the garage about 15 minutes after the blast.

Carthage fire chief John Cooper said McKinney's clothing caught fire and was smoldering when firefighters and ambulance personnel arrived.

Veach said McKinney's worst injuries were to his hand, although the shrapnel struck other parts of his body. No one else was in the garage when the grenade exploded, Veach said.

Veach said officers searched McKinney's room and found military memorabilia, though no other devices like the grenade.