Reports of a pipe bomb in downtown Bakersfield, California on Monday sparked a quick response from authorities, including the bomb squad.
Monday morning a car was reported on fire in a residential area. Officials investigated and said a partial pipe bomb appeared to remain inside the vehicle ABC 23 reported. Another was found in a home driveway near the vehicle.
Grubbs told ABC 23 that the first device appeared to have failed to detonate, left char marks, but didn’t explode. Local homes were evacuated for safety while the second bomb was neutralized.
Sgt. Joe Grubbs of the Bakersfield Police Department told ABC 23 that the driveway bomb appeared active and the bomb squad was deployed. Less than three hours from when the car fire was reported the second pipe bomb was detonated. The bomb squad cleared the remainder of the area.
In a separate event Monday evening in southern California, a Mission Hills resident spotted what was treated as potentially a bomb. Several families were evacuated from the area while a bomb squad inspected the device. A robot was used to do the inspection. Upon investigation the device was determined to be a full gas can with wires affixed to it, local ABC News affiliate 10 News reported, not a bomb.
San Diego Police Lt. Dan Smith told 10 News, “We get a lot of bomb calls, but this one looked like, believe it or not, looked like it could be an explosive device.” Police said they were investigating the source of the device based on information from neighbors.
In mid-August a pipe bomb was set off in a Huntington Beach neighborhood. The incident was suspected to be part of a neighborhood dispute. ABC 7 reported on the incident that did not result in any injuries.
Photo: file
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