Chris Christie said Sunday the explosion of a pipe bomb in a garbage can along the route for the Seaside Semper Five charity 5k race in Seaside Park the day before was an act of “terrorism”. There’s no doubt about that. “Now, who is responsible is something else and what the motive was is something else that hopefully we’re going to find out in the days ahead”.
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Officials also said that a person who claimed responsibility for the NY attack on a Tumblr account – which has since been taken down – does not appear to be linked to the Saturday night explosion that injured 29, though none critically. Subway stations in the area may be open as early as tomorrow morning, Cuomo said. There were no injuries caused by the blast.
A swarm of federal agents from the FBI, Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – with state and local officers – converged on Seaside Park, shutting down the beachfront until Sunday and evacuating nearby homes. One bomb in New Jersey was detonated inside of a trash can; however, no one was injured during the explosion.
In a separate incident from the two explosions on the East Coast, Eight people were injured during a stabbing attack at a Minnesota shopping mall last night. The Manhattan blast injured 29 people.
Thousands of runners were prepared to compete in the third annual race, which was to benefit U.S. Marines and sailors.
The description of the bombs, in both Seaside Park and NY, “bore striking similarities to the pressure cooker devices used by the terrorists who bombed the 2013 Boston Marathon”, Fox News reported.
Officials would not say if they believe the Saturday afternoon blast in Seaside Park was terror-related, but said it didn’t appear to be connected to an explosion that rocked a crowded Manhattan neighborhood Saturday night, injuring 29 people.
The phones were also similar in design, officials said. The assailant, identified by his family as 22-year-old college student Ahmed Adan, was shot and killed by police.
“I thought it was a vehicle accident”, Urban said.
Speaking in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation”, Christie said law enforcement officials have some “promising leads” in the Seaside Park investigation, but have not officially named a suspect.
“It was extremely loud, nearly like thunder but louder”, said Rudy Alcide, a bouncer at a nightclub near the blast. An Islamic State-run news agency claims man was a “soldier of the Islamic State”.
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No suspects have been found, authorities say. The race had been scheduled to start shortly before the blast occurred, but was delayed due to the large numbers of people registering for the race and reports of an unattended backpack being found.
