The FBI was leading the investigation, CBS News has learned.
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FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Brad Cohen addresses the media in Seaside Park. He also declined to take questions from reporters, citing the “active, ongoing” investigation.
The Ocean County prosecutor’s office said on Facebook that no injuries or damage to surrounding structures were reported after a device exploded within a garbage pail.
The bomb went off in a trash can timed to go off at the same time the Seaside Semper Five Marine Corps Charity 5K was set to occur. A four-block area near the explosion was evacuated around scene.
Authorities immediately cleared the boardwalk and beach area.
The area was on lockdown while bomb dogs searched for additional devices.
“Initial reports of a second device found in another trash can have been refuted”, New Jersey State Police said in their statement.
According to a press conference Saturday night, the explosion in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood was likely an intentional act, said James O’Neill, NYPD Commissioner. He said investigators “are not aware of any known threat to public safety at this time” and urged anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALLFBI (option 1).
Numerous state and federal law enforcement agencies were involved in the investigation.
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.
Gov. Chris Christie has been briefed on the incident, and the New York City Police Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau is monitoring developments.
Officials were giving thanks for the back-up at the registration desks for the run, noting that had it begun as scheduled some of the runners would have been passing where the bag had been placed at the moment that it exploded.
“All of a sudden all the responders just went to the spot, and we heard it was some sort of device in a garbage barrel”, said Donna Innaconi.
Congressman Tom MacArthur, who represents the area that includes Burlington and Ocean counties, described the person responsible for the incident as “mentally unhinged”. He said those in the area have been through a lot, with Superstorm Sandy and its aftermath, and now the bomb blast. MacArthur said that person needs to be “tracked down and brought to justice”. Amusement rides and the beach in Seaside Heights remain open after the K-9 and police units swept the area.
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It was not immediately clear whether it got off on schedule, nor whether its route would have taken runners near the site of the blast.
