- Text
Mystery Bomber Targets Texas
A member of the ATF bomb squad removes an object from a postal drop box in Troup, Texas, March 25, 2010. An object resembling a pipe bomb was found in a mailbox in front of the small east Texas post office, the second such incident in three days, authorities said.
(Credit: AP/Tyler Morning Telegraph)by Emily Rand, an Associate Producer of the CBS News Investigative Unit in New York.
Two more
"suspicious devices" were discovered in a blue post office collection box and a
mailbox in
They are just the latest in a terrifying series
of homemade devices found in
The
investigation is ongoing, but officials say the construction of the devices
indicate the incidents are connected.
"The vast
majority of these incidents are linked based on the perpetrators' method of
operations," said Tom Crowley, spokesman for the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Collection
boxes outside the main post offices in
Though the
ATF hasn't yet released the total number of devices that have been found,
The ATF,
which is working the case with USPS, has dispatched additional units to
"This is a
priority investigation for both the Postal Inspection Service and the ATF and
we are leaving no stone unturned," Postal Inspector McMurrey said.
In the wake
of yesterday's discoveries, ATF and USPS raised their reward for information
relating to the persons responsible for the devices from $10,000 to $25,000.
To date,
officials say there is no suspect in the case.
So far none
of the devices have detonated and all have been safely disabled. Although
several devices have been active, bomb squads have determined others to be
hoaxes.
Anyone with
information regarding suspicious activity around blue collection boxes or the
person(s) responsible for these acts can contact the Postal Inspection
Service's East Texas Tip Line at 817-359-2719, or the toll-free number,
877-876-2455, option 2.
Incidents
in March:
March 9,
2010
Six Crude
IEDs were found in collection boxes at six locations in the
In
addition, ATF reported up to 20 additional devices have been placed at other
locations not associated with the mail and postal facilities.
March
15, 2010
Four "hangman's nooses" were found inside collection boxes in Gladewater, TX, the main post office in Tyler, TX, the SE Crossing Finance Unit in Tyler, TX, the Azalea Station in Tyler, TX. In addition, five Molotov cocktails were found outside Henderson main Post Office.
March
23, 2010
Two Molotov
cocktail devices discovered in Marshall TX, one outside the Marshall Main Post
Office, the other in a collection box on E. Travis St.
March
25, 2010
Pipe bomb
found in a collection box in front of
March
30, 2010
IED
device found in customer mailbox in
March
30, 2010
IED found
in a USPS collection box in
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