Bothell police spokesperson Denise Langford said officials received a call early the morning of Nov. 22 about a suspicious object left inside a Seattle Times vending box at approximately 10100 Main St.

The call was made about 3:48 a.m. by a Seattle Times delivery driver who feared the object was some sort of explosive device.

Langford said local police called in the King County Sheriff bomb squad who destroyed the item with a water cannon. Langford added she could not say if the object actually was a bomb or somebody’s dumb idea of a prank. She did say the local office of the FBI had asserted interest in the case and taken over the investigation. According to Langford, Bothell officials were told the incident might have some link to another case being looked at by the FBI.

A spokesperson for the Seattle FBI office, Robbie Burroughs said the federal government can step in any time an incident involves a possible explosive device. Like Langford, she could not say if the item found in Bothell was actually an explosive instrument. Burroughs added, to her knowledge, the Bothell incident was isolated and never posed any threat to public safety.

Burroughs declined to comment further, saying the investigation was ongoing.