Unexploded pipe bomb found near Rotolo Middle School

A pipe bomb was found in Big Woods Park near Rotolo Middle School in Batavia Thursday.

There was a small amount of an explosive substance in the PVC-pipe bomb, but likely not enough to cause damage, Batavia police Cmdr. Greg Thrun said.

"It was a very simple, basic device," said Kevin Bretz of the Batavia Police Department.

Police and the Kane County Bomb Squad rendered the device inert at the scene, he said.

Park district employees discovered it around noon off of a walking path about a quarter-mile from the middle school. Police were on the scene for about 2½ hours.

Crews are at the park at 1063 S. Raddant Road daily, said Allison Sohr, a spokeswoman for the Batavia Park District.

The school district had already planned increased security at Rotolo today after a threat was scrawled on a bathroom stall before spring break, and will continue with that plan, Superintendent Jack Barshinger said.

If parents want to keep children home today, it will be an excused absence.

Thrun said police did not believe the two events were connected and that the device could have been there earlier.

Police cleared the park and it was reopened Thursday afternoon.

The incident is under investigation, but there is little physical evidence to go on, Bretz said.