Early Monday morning 5 explosive devices were found at a train station in Elizabeth, NJ, one of which detonated as local police and the FBI were attempting to disarm it with a robot:
LATEST: Device exploded in N.J. early Monday was 1 of 5 found in backpack at transit station https://t.co/5je2WHlBoO pic.twitter.com/cD5HEJSrFs
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 19, 2016
.@KatCreag4NY reports from Elizabeth, NJ, where device exploded as robot tried to disarm it https://t.co/tXMqbYE7qm pic.twitter.com/XkFQh6If0e
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) September 19, 2016
The explosion was caught on video (language warning):
#BREAKING video shows moment bomb robot accidentally detonated device found @ Elizabeth NJ train station. @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/xfO97F2ebm
— Anthony DiLorenzo (@ADiLorenzoTV) September 19, 2016
WATCH: Video shows device explode while being examined by police robot in Elizabeth, NJ, this morning – @miguelnbc https://t.co/ZgfD8LK0ne
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) September 19, 2016
WATCH: Explosive device detonates near Elizabeth train station as robot was examining it pic.twitter.com/OQp2xr0aNl
— Jessica Remo (@JessicaRemoNJ) September 19, 2016
Thankfully there were no injuries:
No injuries in New Jersey explosion; Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage warned other explosions were expected https://t.co/M7oELTwUwF ?
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 19, 2016
But the individuals who found the suspicious backpack in the first place could have been seriously hurt. (Or maybe we should thank them?) From the New York Times:
The men who initially found the backpack were not suspects, the mayor said. Thinking that it contained valuables, they had carried it perhaps 1,000 feet before becoming exhausted by its weight. They set it down where their muscles gave out, beside an S.U.V. under the New Jersey Transit overpass on Broad Street at the station downtown, the mayor said.
It’s also not known if the train station was the actual target:
Law enforcement officials were examining surveillance video from the cameras of the bar near where the backpack was found. The mayor said that the area had been searched and that no other such packages had been found.
[Mayor J. Christian] Bollwage said he did not think that Elizabeth had necessarily been targeted by an attacker.
“It is very possible that someone was trying to get rid of a package, as opposed to setting it off,” he said.
All trains through the area were halted as the FBI continued its investigation:
For everyone stuck on @Amtrak and @NJTRANSIT in New Jersey, this is why: https://t.co/3e4LjFtjIi
— Jill Colvin (@colvinj) September 19, 2016
Police activity in Elizabeth, NJ, all NJ bound Amtrak and NJT trains are being held in Penn Station (MN). Consider alternate routes.
— NYCEM – Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) September 19, 2016
Service should be restored by the morning commute:
NEC and NJCL service will resume regular weekday service starting at 5:30 a.m. Customers are advised to plan for delays.
— NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) September 19, 2016
It is not known if there’s a connection to the people taken into custody Sunday night on the Belt Parkway in NYC:
BREAKING: State Sen., CBS 2 report 'several in custody' after FBI traffic stop on Belt Parkway https://t.co/TO4takAaSn
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 19, 2016
Stay safe, everyone.
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member