AUBURN – Police blamed reports of gunshots Saturday night in a gully area south of Pettingill Park on several two-liter plastic soda bottles that had been rigged to explode.

Police responding to reports of gunshots near the tennis courts west of Union Street and behind the old Webster School found remains of three exploded soda bottles and two more that had been rigged to explode but failed.

“Basically, these are plastic bottles filled with household chemicals,” said Auburn Police Lieutenant Tim Cougle. “They’re designed to build up pressure over time, until it pops.”

Police suspect area kids made the impromptu bombs, using instructions from the Internet. Cougle said he doubts the bottles were put in place to be dangerous.

“For the most part, these are noisemakers,” Cougle said. “I don’t want to overstate the situation. It’s not like we had bombs going off in the city. But you shouldn’t downplay the danger. There are parts flying when these explode, and they are mixing chemicals that can be dangerous. So there can be harm.”

Cougle said police had no suspects but were continuing to talk to neighbors in the area about the rigged soda bottles.