The remnants of a homemade bomb that was found under a bridge in rural Falls County have been sent to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Two boys found the device Tuesday under the Pond Creek Bridge on FM 1963 about three miles south of Rosebud.

Falls County deputies requested assistance from the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad, which defused the device.

"The bomb could have done some real damage if it had gone off with anyone around," McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said.

An X-ray taken by the bomb squad’s robot showed that the device consisted of a container filled with a flammable liquid, a detonator, shotgun shells and shrapnel, McNamara said.

The squad used a water cannon to defuse the device, he said.

Falls County authorities are trying to determine how the device ended up under the bridge and who was responsible for putting it there.