Florida Mall Evacuated After Pipe Bomb Detonates
LAKE WALES, Fla. (CBSNewYork) -- A homemade bomb detonated and caused a fire Sunday evening in a mall in Florida.
Around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, someone noticed smoke coming from an entrance to the JCPenney store at the Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales, Florida, near Lakeland and east of the Tampa Bay Area.
The fire department raced to the scene and found the smoke coming from a service corridor, CBS affiliate WTSP-TV, Tampa Bay-Sarasota reported. Two pipe bombs that blew up were found with a backpack nearby, the station reported.
Another suspicious device was found near the movie theater at the mall, WTSP reported.
The mall was evacuated. There were no reports of injuries, but there was damage to the mall roof.
Police said they were searching for a person of interest described as a heavy-set, middle-aged white man wearing a gray shirt and a gray hat, WTSP reported.
Authorities said it was too soon to call the incident terrorism, WTSP reported.