‘Failed’ car bomb found in Times Square

timessquare.jpg

At the risk of stating the obvious, this is extremely bad news that is going to cause many personnel at law enforcement agencies to lose a lot of sleep. Police and firefighters found what appears to be a car bomb near Times Square. It appears the bomb was in the process of being detonated, but failed. From The New York Times:

A suspicious vehicle in the heart of Times Square led the police to clear thousands of tourists and theatergoers from the area on a warm and busy Saturday evening.

There was no explosion.

Police officials said a witness reported a running Nissan Pathfinder with Connecticut plates, with smoke coming out of the back. A bomb squad robot popped the back latch of the Pathfinder, and officers found what they initially believed was a bomb. The vehicle was found to contain explosives, gasoline, propane and burned wires, a Fire Department officer told Reuters.

The officer, who did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the news media, said that a man was seen fleeing the S.U.V. and that the police evacuated the area in case there were other threats nearby.

The officer said that the police were treating the vehicle as a “failed device.” The police were searching for a suspect.

No word at this time on who may have planted the car bomb.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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3 Comments

  • Thor says:

    This is very bad news. On our home soil will certainly wake up Americans to the fact that terrorism is alive and well in the states. Out of site, out of mind. Most are very uninformed. Yes this is a very bad wake up call.

  • ArneFufkin says:

    Thor, if the StarTribune up here in the Twin Cities is any barometer, the media is downplaying this event as the failed work of some lone wolf bungler (and from the leftists in the comments section likely a right wing tea party attendee). The promoted crisis is British Petroleum and the evils of big corporations. The annoying reality of an existential terror threat on our homeland does not work work well into the storyline of a big government agenda that major media outlets seem hellbent to push.

  • ArneFufkin says:

    FOX News just reported that a Federal Official identified a person of interest: a naturalized American citizen who just returned from a trip to Pakistan.
    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/03/officials-reportedly-foreign-plot-times-square-car-bomb/

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