A suspicious object that appeared to be a pipe bomb was found Wednesday afternoon near the entrance of the Wal-Mart shopping center in Dayton.

Local police quickly secured the area and waited for a bomb squad to arrive. Once on the scene, the squad quickly diffused the device.

Virginia State Police say that the object was not a bomb but it had the potential to be dangerous.

First Sgt. Bryan Hutcheson, VSP, says, "Our bomb technicians were able to detonate the device. Just to be sure if there was anything that was going to explode, we wanted to do it in a controlled environment. Now, after a closer examination of it, it appears as though there was not any explosives in it. We just blew it up to be sure."

State police also say that most bomb scare situations usually turn out to be fake but they must take the proper precautions to ensure public safety.