Police stand watch over a violin case that U.S. Park Police said contained at least one weapon. (Barbara Joan Saffir)

A woman walking in the woods near the Boathouse at Fletcher’s Cove on Wednesday found a violin case containing at least one firearm, and police said they discovered other weapons strewn along the C&O Canal.

At least a dozen police officers descended on the area near the boathouse late Wednesday morning. Authorities called in an explosive ordnance disposal unit, or bomb squad, to help with the search as additional weapons were found.

“At this point, we don’t know how they got there, why they’re here or when they got here,” said Sgt. Anna Rose, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over the area that runs along the Potomac River.

The discovery was made shortly before noon about a quarter-mile from the boathouse, along a stone wall near Canal Road, a popular route that was closed between Reservoir Road and Arizona Avenue through Wednesday afternoon.

“Normally this is a pretty quiet area,” said Barbara Joan Saffir, who saw the person who found the case talking with police. She took a picture of police guarding the case, resting on a concrete block near a bridge that goes over the tow path.

Rose said that police searching the area where the violin case was found discovered more guns and ammunition, some in pails, others in plastic garbage bags. Rose did not identify the weapons; she said the firearm in the violin case was a long gun.

“This is a great example of someone who saw something and said something,” she said.