A pipe bomb exploded in a Jersey Shore town Saturday shortly before thousands of runners were due to participate in a charity 5K race to benefit Marines and sailors, authorities said.
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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 explosion occurred in Seaside Park.
Saturday’s blast was likely timed to disrupt the event in Seaside Park, officials said.
Registration problems at the starting line delayed the start of the race, which meant no one was near the garbage can when the explosion happened, a law enforcement official said. No injuries were reported, and a four-block area was evacuated, authorities said.
The FBI and Department of Homeland were both involved in the initial investigations, CNN reported.
Al Della Fave, the spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, said that the bomb inside the garbage can was actually multiple explosive devices that did not ultimately do the damage it was created to do, Asbury Park Press reported.
No suspects have been found, authorities say.
“You would have to assume that at a military-type event, the U.S. Marines, a device is placed along the route of a charity event, it would be hard to think it would be anything else, ” Della Fave said, according to the Asbury Park Press.
“It is a real shame that that charitable run that does so many great things for the Marines is now canceled”, Della Fave said. He said no additional devices were found after the dogs completed their sweep. One official at the scene said they were very lucky there were no casualties.
The New Jersey device contained evidence of a black powder, while the device that exploded in Manhattan had residue from an explosive called Tannerite, said a federal law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation.
It’s not clear whether the motive was criminal or terrorist, Della Fave said, but “it’s obvious it was meant to affect the run”. “We pray for those people who were injured in those other attacks”.
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A federal law enforcement official told the AP on Sunday that the FBI was evaluating a claim of responsibility for the New York City bombing on the social blogging service Tumblr.
