New Jersey runners narrowly avoided tragedy Saturday morning when a pipe bomb timed to explode during a race resulted in no injuries, CNN reported today.
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The pipe bomb was in a plastic garbage can when it exploded.
Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the Ocean County prosecutor’s office, told CNN that he believed that the explosion was meant to affect the charity run, which started five minutes before the blast.
Police gather at a command center in Seaside Park, N.J., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, during an investigation of a pipe bomb which exploded before a charity race to benefit Marines and sailors.
Numerous state and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident.
At least one Twitter user tweeted that her “whole high-rise building shook” from a apparent blast.
Officials say participants in the third annual Semper Five run to benefit Marines and sailors had been scheduled to pass by the area around the time the blast occurred.
The explosion occurred around 9:30 a.m.as spectators and runners were about to line up for the start of the race, according to New Jersey 101.5.
Hours after the incident, an explosion rocked Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, injuring 29 people.
A shorter “fun run” event for youth runners had also just ended when the blast occurred.
At a press conference outside Seaside Park Police headquarters on Saturday evening, Brad Cohen, the lead special agent of the FBI’s Newark office, said there was no threat to the community.
The garbage can contained several “pipe bomb-type devices” wired together, Fave said.
Whitaker declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Seaside Park police Chief Francis Larken said all residents will be able to return to their homes as of 6 p.m. Residents in the area of C, D and E streets near the beachfront will have to show identification, Larken said. He said no surrounding structures were damaged. But the start of the race had been delayed and no one was in the immediate area when the blast happened. “We are grateful that nobody was injured, but this is a serious act of violence against the people of New Jersey”.
“We’re continuing to work with the authorities to make sure that we bring whoever is responsible for this to justice as quickly as possible”, he said. A senior official said police are searching the area for possibble additional devices as a precaution, and police and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force are responding.
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It wasn’t clear when the boardwalk and beach will reopen.
