Man Arrested Outside Buckingham Palace as Police Conduct Controlled Explosion

British police carried out a controlled explosion outside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, detonating a bag taken from a man suspected of throwing shotgun cartridges into the palace grounds just days before the coronation of King Charles III.

There were no injuries and no shots were fired, but the man was quickly detained and later arrested after he was found carrying a knife, London’s Metropolitan Police said. He did not have a firearm and the incident is not currently being treated as terror, he added.

The man was arrested after throwing away items “suspected to be shotgun cartridges” and was found carrying a “suspicious bag,” police said in a statement. Police said the controlled explosion in the bag was “precautionary” following an assessment by specialists who attended the scene.

They did not say what made the bag suspicious, or whether it contained anything dangerous.

The incident came amid tension during the event on Saturday when Charles was officially crowned. The Metropolitan Police sent out warning letters this week to anti-monarchists planning to protest at the coronation. The new law, which will come into effect on Wednesday, will give authorities the authority to quickly arrest and search for potential troublemakers, and will carry the threat of stiff prison terms.

The motive of the person responsible for the incident on Tuesday is not clear. The BBC reported that the king and queen consort were not at the palace at the time, but the Metropolitan Police would not confirm this.

Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Joseph McDonald said officers had “immediately worked to detain the man and he has been taken into police custody,” according to the statement. “Officers remain at the scene and further inquiries are ongoing.”

For those glued to open news coverage the day before the coronation, surreal scenes played out on live televisionas British MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, as the host of a news program, was forced to suspend the broadcast after being told by the police to evacuate.

“The police are now living with us and have told us to evacuate,” he said from a portable broadcasting station set up outside the palace.

“I’m sorry to say it’s late in the evening,” he added, as an explosion rang out in the background. “I think it was probably a controlled explosion in the background,” he continued calmly.