PITTSBURGH -- Students at Beechwood Elementary School were let out 30 minutes early on Thursday after the discovery of what Pittsburgh school police called a homemade explosive.

"This was definitely the real deal," said Robert Fadzen, chief of safety for Pittsburgh Public Schools. "It could have caused a serious explosion in the parking lot."

A bottle wrapped in duct tape was thrown from a passing car into a lot near the school on Rockland Avenue in the Beechview section of the city, police said. Parents saw the bottle smoking and called for help.

A city police bomb squad safely detonated the device before it had a chance to injure anybody.

School police said there could have been a tragedy if the explosive went off and caused the car next to it to explode.

Police are investigating. No arrests have been made.

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